Narcissism and Callous-Unemotional Traits Prospectively Predict Child Conduct Problems.

PubMed

Jezior, Kristen L; McKenzie, Meghan E; Lee, Steve S

2016-01-01

Although narcissism and callous-unemotional (CU) traits are separable facets of psychopathy, their independent prediction of conduct problems (CP) among young children is not well known. In addition, above-average IQ was central to the original conceptualization of psychopathy, yet IQ is typically inversely associated with youth CP. We examined narcissism and CU traits as independent and prospective predictors of oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), conduct disorder (CD), and youth self-reported antisocial behavior, as well as their moderation by IQ. At baseline, parents and teachers separately rated narcissism and CU traits in 188 6-to-10-year-old children (47.9% non-White; 69.1% male; M = 7.34 years, SD = 1.09) with (n = 99) and without (n = 89) attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Approximately 2 years later, parents and teachers separately rated youth ODD and CD symptoms, and youth self-reported antisocial behavior. With control of baseline ADHD and ODD/CD symptoms, narcissism and CU traits independently and positively predicted ODD and CD symptoms at follow-up. IQ did not moderate any CP predictions from baseline narcissism or CU traits. These preliminary findings suggest that individual differences in narcissism and CU traits, even relatively early in development, are uniquely associated with emergent CP. Findings are considered within a developmental framework and the multiple pathways underlying the heterogeneity of CP are discussed.

Perceptions of aggressive conflicts and others' distress in children with callous-unemotional traits: ‘I'll show you who's boss, even if you suffer and I get in trouble'

PubMed Central

Pardini, Dustin A.; Byrd, Amy L.

2013-01-01

Background Children with callous-unemotional (CU) traits may have a particularly malevolent view of social conflicts and a pervasive insensitivity to others' distress. The current study examined whether children with CU traits have unique expectations and values regarding the consequences of aggressive conflicts and a ubiquitous lack of concern for others' feelings independent of co-occurring aggression. Methods Participants were 96 (46 males, 50 females) children recruited from elementary schools within an urban city. Associations between CU traits and child reports of outcome expectancies/values following aggressive conflicts and facets of empathy were examined after controlling for aggression, academic abilities, and demographic covariates. Results Children with higher CU traits were less likely to expect that aggression would result in victim suffering and feelings of remorse. After controlling for co-occurring aggression, children with higher CU traits were more likely to expect that aggression would result in peer dominance, while children with higher levels of aggression were more likely to expect that attacking others would reduce their aversive behavior. Children with higher CU traits were less concerned that aggressive behavior would result in punishment, victim suffering, and feelings of remorse. Moreover, children with higher CU traits reported lower levels of empathetic concern and sadness in response to others' distress outside of aggressive conflicts. Conclusions Children with CU traits tend to minimize the extent to which aggression causes victim suffering and openly acknowledge caring less about distress and suffering in others. They are less intimidated by the possibility of being punished for aggressive behavior and tend to view aggression as an effective means for dominating others. In sum, children with CU traits have a particularly malicious social schema that may be difficult to change using conventional treatment methods. PMID:22066467

Perceptions of aggressive conflicts and others' distress in children with callous-unemotional traits: 'I'll show you who's boss, even if you suffer and I get in trouble'.

PubMed

Pardini, Dustin A; Byrd, Amy L

2012-03-01

Children with callous-unemotional (CU) traits may have a particularly malevolent view of social conflicts and a pervasive insensitivity to others' distress. The current study examined whether children with CU traits have unique expectations and values regarding the consequences of aggressive conflicts and a ubiquitous lack of concern for others' feelings independent of co-occurring aggression. Participants were 96 (46 males, 50 females) children recruited from elementary schools within an urban city. Associations between CU traits and child reports of outcome expectancies/values following aggressive conflicts and facets of empathy were examined after controlling for aggression, academic abilities, and demographic covariates. Children with higher CU traits were less likely to expect that aggression would result in victim suffering and feelings of remorse. After controlling for co-occurring aggression, children with higher CU traits were more likely to expect that aggression would result in peer dominance, while children with higher levels of aggression were more likely to expect that attacking others would reduce their aversive behavior. Children with higher CU traits were less concerned that aggressive behavior would result in punishment, victim suffering, and feelings of remorse. Moreover, children with higher CU traits reported lower levels of empathetic concern and sadness in response to others' distress outside of aggressive conflicts. Children with CU traits tend to minimize the extent to which aggression causes victim suffering and openly acknowledge caring less about distress and suffering in others. They are less intimidated by the possibility of being punished for aggressive behavior and tend to view aggression as an effective means for dominating others. In sum, children with CU traits have a particularly malicious social schema that may be difficult to change using conventional treatment methods. © 2011 The Authors. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry © 2011 Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.

Mediation of the relationship between callous-unemotional traits and proactive aggression by amygdala response to fear among children with conduct problems.

PubMed

Lozier, Leah M; Cardinale, Elise M; VanMeter, John W; Marsh, Abigail A

2014-06-01

Among youths with conduct problems, callous-unemotional (CU) traits are known to be an important determinant of symptom severity, prognosis, and treatment responsiveness. But positive correlations between conduct problems and CU traits result in suppressor effects that may mask important neurobiological distinctions among subgroups of children with conduct problems. To assess the unique neurobiological covariates of CU traits and externalizing behaviors in youths with conduct problems and determine whether neural dysfunction linked to CU traits mediates the link between callousness and proactive aggression. This cross-sectional case-control study involved behavioral testing and neuroimaging that were conducted at a university research institution. Neuroimaging was conducted using a 3-T Siemens magnetic resonance imaging scanner. It included 46 community-recruited male and female juveniles aged 10 to 17 years, including 16 healthy control participants and 30 youths with conduct problems with both low and high levels of CU traits. Blood oxygenation level-dependent signal as measured via functional magnetic resonance imaging during an implicit face-emotion processing task and analyzed using whole-brain and region of interest-based analysis of variance and multiple-regression analyses. Analysis of variance revealed no group differences in the amygdala. By contrast, consistent with the existence of suppressor effects, multiple-regression analysis found amygdala responses to fearful expressions to be negatively associated with CU traits (x = 26, y = 0, z = -12; k = 1) and positively associated with externalizing behavior (x = 24, y = 0, z = -14; k = 8) when both variables were modeled simultaneously. Reduced amygdala responses mediated the relationship between CU traits and proactive aggression. The results linked proactive aggression in youths with CU traits to hypoactive amygdala responses to emotional distress cues, consistent with theories that externalizing behaviors, particularly proactive aggression, in youths with these traits stem from deficient empathic responses to distress. Amygdala hypoactivity may represent an intermediate phenotype, offering new insights into effective treatment strategies for conduct problems.

Mediation of the Relationship Between Callous-Unemotional Traits and Proactive Aggression by Amygdala Response to Fear Among Children With Conduct Problems

PubMed Central

Lozier, Leah M.; Cardinale, Elise M.; VanMeter, John W.; Marsh, Abigail A.

2015-01-01

Importance Among youths with conduct problems, callous-unemotional (CU) traits are known to be an important determinant of symptom severity, prognosis, and treatment responsiveness. But positive correlations between conduct problems and CU traits result in suppressor effects that may mask important neurobiological distinctions among subgroups of children with conduct problems. Objective To assess the unique neurobiological covariates of CU traits and externalizing behaviors in youths with conduct problems and determine whether neural dysfunction linked to CU traits mediates the link between callousness and proactive aggression. Design, Setting, and Participants This cross-sectional case-control study involved behavioral testing and neuroimaging that were conducted at a university research institution. Neuroimaging was conducted using a 3-T Siemens magnetic resonance imaging scanner. It included 46 community-recruited male and female juveniles aged 10 to 17 years, including 16 healthy control participants and 30 youths with conduct problems with both low and high levels of CU traits. Main Outcomes and Measures Blood oxygenation level–dependent signal as measured via functional magnetic resonance imaging during an implicit face-emotion processing task and analyzed using whole-brain and region of interest–based analysis of variance and multiple-regression analyses. Results Analysis of variance revealed no group differences in the amygdala. By contrast, consistent with the existence of suppressor effects, multiple-regression analysis found amygdala responses to fearful expressions to be negatively associated with CU traits (x = 26, y = 0, z = −12; k = 1) and positively associated with externalizing behavior (x = 24, y = 0, z = −14; k = 8) when both variables were modeled simultaneously. Reduced amygdala responses mediated the relationship between CU traits and proactive aggression. Conclusions and Relevance The results linked proactive aggression in youths with CU traits to hypoactive amygdala responses to emotional distress cues, consistent with theories that externalizing behaviors, particularly proactive aggression, in youths with these traits stem from deficient empathic responses to distress. Amygdala hypoactivity may represent an intermediate phenotype, offering new insights into effective treatment strategies for conduct problems. PMID:24671141

Impulse Control and Callous-Unemotional Traits Distinguish Patterns of Delinquency and Substance Use in Justice Involved Adolescents: Examining the Moderating Role of Neighborhood Context.

PubMed

Ray, James V; Thornton, Laura C; Frick, Paul J; Steinberg, Laurence; Cauffman, Elizabeth

2016-04-01

Both callous-unemotional (CU) traits and impulse control are known risk factors associated with delinquency and substance use. However, research is limited in how contextual factors such as neighborhood conditions influence the associations between these two dispositional factors and these two externalizing behaviors. The current study utilized latent class analysis (LCA) to identify unique classes of delinquency and substance use within an ethnically diverse sample (n = 1216) of justice-involved adolescents (ages 13 to 17) from three different sites. Neighborhood disorder, CU traits, and impulse control were all independently associated with membership in classes with more extensive histories of delinquency and substance use. The effects of CU traits and impulse control in distinguishing delinquent classes was invariant across levels of neighborhood disorder, whereas neighborhood disorder moderated the association between impulse control and substance use. Specifically, the probability of being in more severe substance using classes for those low in impulse control was stronger in neighborhoods with fewer indicators of social and physical disorder.

Symptoms of Conduct Disorder, Oppositional Defiant Disorder, Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, and Callous-Unemotional Traits as Unique Predictors of Psychosocial Maladjustment in Boys: Advancing an Evidence Base for DSM-V

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pardini, Dustin A.; Fite, Paula J.

2010-01-01

Objective: The incremental utility of symptoms of conduct disorder (CD), oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and callous-unemotional (CU) traits for predicting psychosocial outcomes across multiple domains was examined in a community sample of 1,517 boys. Method: Several outcomes were assessed…

Callous-unemotional traits in children and mechanisms of impaired eye contact during expressions of love: a treatment target?

PubMed

Dadds, Mark R; Allen, Jennifer L; McGregor, Kimberley; Woolgar, Matthew; Viding, Essi; Scott, Stephen

2014-07-01

We previously hypothesised that the early development of psychopathy is associated with a failure to attend to the eyes of attachment figures, and we have presented preliminary data from a parent-child 'love' scenario in support of this. Here, we confirm the association in a larger sample and test mechanisms of impaired eye contact during expressions of love in control and behaviourally disturbed children. Oppositional defiant disorder children, assessed for callous-unemotional (CU) traits, and controls, were observed in a brief interaction task where the mother was asked to show love to her child. Eye contact and affection were measured for each dyad. As predicted, there were no group differences in affection and eye contact expressed by mothers; levels of CU traits predicted low levels of eye contact towards their mothers across all groups of children. As expected, low eye contact was correlated with psychopathic fearlessness in their fathers, and maternal reports of negative feelings towards the child. Independent observations showed that child's behaviour largely drives the low eye contact associated with CU traits, and low eye contact was not associated with independent observations of the quality of attachment-related behaviours in mothers. Impaired eye contact is a unique characteristic of children with CU traits; these impairments are largely independent of maternal behaviour, but associated with psychopathic traits in the fathers. These impairments should be tested for functional significance and amenability to change in longitudinal and treatment studies. © 2013 The Authors. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry © 2013 Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.

An examination of the parent report version of the inventory of callous-unemotional traits in a community sample of first-grade children.

PubMed

Willoughby, Michael T; Mills-Koonce, W Roger; Waschbusch, Daniel A; Gottfredson, Nisha C

2015-02-01

The Inventory of Callous-Unemotional Traits is a self- and other report questionnaire of callous-unemotional behaviors that is increasingly widely used in research and clinical settings. Nonetheless, questions about the factor structure and validity of scales remain. This study provided the first large-scale (N = 1,078) investigation of the parent report version of the Inventory of Callous-Unemotional Traits in a community sample of school-age (first-grade) children. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that a two-factor model that distinguished empathic-prosocial (EP) from callous-unemotional (CU) behaviors provided the best fit to the data. EP and CU were moderately to strongly correlated with each other (ϕ = -.67, p < .001) and with oppositional defiant disorder and conduct disorder (ODD/CD) behaviors (ϕODD/CD, EP = -.55; ϕODD/CD, CU = .71, ps < .001). Individual differences in EP and CU behaviors explained unique variation, beyond that attributable to ODD/CD behaviors, in peer-, teacher-, and parent relationship quality. Moreover, whereas EP moderated the effects of ODD/CD in the prediction of student-teacher relationship quality, CU moderated the effects of ODD/CD in the prediction of peer and parent relationship quality. Results are discussed with respect to the use of the ICU with school-age children. © The Author(s) 2014.

Can callous-unemotional traits enhance the understanding, diagnosis, and treatment of serious conduct problems in children and adolescents? A comprehensive review.

PubMed

Frick, Paul J; Ray, James V; Thornton, Laura C; Kahn, Rachel E

2014-01-01

This article provides a comprehensive review of the research on the use of callous and unemotional (CU) traits for designating an important subgroup of children and adolescents with severe conduct problems. It focuses on the etiological significance of recognizing this subgroup of youths with severe conduct problems, its implications for diagnostic classification, and the treatment implications of this research. The review highlights limitations in existing research and provides directions for future research. The available research suggests that children and adolescents with severe conduct problems and elevated CU traits show distinct genetic, cognitive, emotional, biological, environmental, and personality characteristics that seem to implicate different etiological factors underlying their behavior problems relative to other youths with severe conduct problems. Recognizing these subgroups could be critical for guiding future research on the causes of severe conduct problems in children and adolescents. Further, children and adolescents with both severe conduct problems and elevated CU traits appear to be at risk for more severe and persistent antisocial outcomes, even controlling for the severity of their conduct problems, the age of onset of their conduct problems, and common comorbid problems, which supports the clinical importance of designating this group in diagnostic classification systems. Finally, although children and adolescents with both severe conduct problems and elevated CU traits tend to respond less positively to typical interventions provided in mental health and juvenile justice settings, they show positive responses to certain intensive interventions tailored to their unique emotional and cognitive characteristics. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved).

Adolescents' ability to read different emotional faces relates to their history of maltreatment and type of psychopathology.

PubMed

Leist, Tatyana; Dadds, Mark R

2009-04-01

Emotional processing styles appear to characterize various forms of psychopathology and environmental adversity in children. For example, autistic, anxious, high- and low-emotion conduct problem children, and children who have been maltreated, all appear to show specific deficits and strengths in recognizing the facial expressions of emotions. Until now, the relationships between emotion recognition, antisocial behaviour, emotional problems, callous-unemotional (CU) traits and early maltreatment have never been assessed simultaneously in one study, and the specific associations of emotion recognition to maltreatment and child characteristics are therefore unknown. We examined facial-emotion processing in a sample of 23 adolescents selected for high-risk status on the variables of interest. As expected, maltreatment and child characteristics showed unique associations. CU traits were uniquely related to impairments in fear recognition. Antisocial behaviour was uniquely associated with better fear recognition, but impaired anger recognition. Emotional problems were associated with better recognition of anger and sadness, but lower recognition of neutral faces. Maltreatment was predictive of superior recognition of fear and sadness. The findings are considered in terms of social information-processing theories of psychopathology. Implications for clinical interventions are discussed.

Family Drawings before and after Treatment for Child Conduct Problems: Fluidity of Family Dysfunction.

PubMed

Kloft, Lilian; Hawes, David; Moul, Caroline; Sultan, Sonia; Dadds, Mark

2017-01-01

Children's drawings have previously been found to reflect their representations of family relationships. The present study examined whether evidence-based parent training for child conduct problems impacts on representations of family functioning using the Family Drawing Paradigm (FDP). N  = 53 clinic-referred children (aged 3-15) with conduct problems and their families were assessed pre-treatment and at 6-month follow-up on a modified version of the FDP. Analyses of changes in the FDP revealed improvements in family functioning but not tone of language (as indicated by written descriptors) following treatment. Higher family dysfunction scores were associated with increased levels of callous-unemotional (CU) traits in the children pre-treatment. Children with high levels of CU, however, demonstrated greater change in FDP dysfunction than a low CU group, resulting in similar levels at follow-up. CU traits also moderated the association between change in family warmth and conduct problem severity, with increased FDP warmth more strongly related to improved conduct problems in the high vs. the low CU group. FDP drawings are sensitive to changes in family functioning arising from parent training, accounting for unique variance in child outcomes independent of verbal reports.

A behavioral genetic analysis of callous-unemotional traits and Big Five personality in adolescence.

PubMed

Mann, Frank D; Briley, Daniel A; Tucker-Drob, Elliot M; Harden, K Paige

2015-11-01

Callous-unemotional (CU) traits, such as lacking empathy and emotional insensitivity, predict the onset, severity, and persistence of antisocial behavior. CU traits are heritable, and genetic influences on CU traits contribute to antisocial behavior. This study examines genetic overlap between CU traits and general domains of personality. We measured CU traits using the Inventory of Callous-Unemotional Traits (ICU) and Big Five personality using the Big Five Inventory in a sample of adolescent twins from the Texas Twin Project. Genetic influences on the Big Five personality dimensions could account for the entirety of genetic influences on CU traits. Item Response Theory results indicate that the Inventory of Callous and Unemotional Traits is better at detecting clinically relevant personality variation at lower extremes of personality trait continua, particularly low agreeableness and low conscientiousness. The proximate biological mechanisms that mediate genetic liabilities for CU traits remain an open question. The results of the current study suggest that understanding the development of normal personality may inform understanding of the genetic underpinnings of callous and unemotional behavior. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

What are the associations between parenting, callous-unemotional traits, and antisocial behavior in youth? A systematic review of evidence.

PubMed

Waller, Rebecca; Gardner, Frances; Hyde, Luke W

2013-06-01

A growing body of research has examined callous-unemotional (CU) traits among samples of antisocial youth. Debate surrounds the malleability of CU traits and their responsiveness to parenting and parent-focused interventions. This review examines evidence from studies that have investigated various relationships between parenting, CU traits, and antisocial behavior (AB). Studies were categorized according to five distinct research questions each addressing associations among parenting, CU traits, and AB in a different way. The results suggest that dimensions of parenting are prospectively related to changes in CU traits. Subgroups of youth with both high levels of CU traits and AB also appear to have experienced negative parenting practices. However, negative parenting is not consistently related to AB in cross-sectional studies for youth with high levels of CU traits. At the same time, parenting-focused interventions appear effective in reducing the level of AB and CU traits in youth. The findings and implications for future studies are critically discussed as they pose challenges for current etiological theories of AB. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Reciprocal influences between negative life events and callous-unemotional traits.

PubMed

Kimonis, Eva R; Centifanti, Luna C M; Allen, Jennifer L; Frick, Paul J

2014-11-01

Children with conduct problems and co-occurring callous-unemotional (CU) traits show more severe, stable, and aggressive antisocial behaviors than those without CU traits. Exposure to negative life events has been identified as an important contributing factor to the expression of CU traits across time, although the directionality of this effect has remained unknown due to a lack of longitudinal study. The present longitudinal study examined potential bidirectional effects of CU traits leading to experiencing more negative life events and negative life events leading to increases in CU traits across 3 years among a sample of community-based school-aged (M = 10.9, SD = 1.71 years) boys and girls (N = 98). Repeated rating measures of CU traits, negative life events and conduct problems completed by children and parents during annual assessments were moderately to highly stable across time. Cross-lagged models supported a reciprocal relationship of moderate magnitude between child-reported CU traits and "controllable" negative life events. Parent-reported CU traits predicted "uncontrollable" life events at the earlier time point and controllable life events at the later time point, but no reciprocal effect was evident. These findings have important implications for understanding developmental processes that contribute to the stability of CU traits in youth.

High-Quality Foster Care Mitigates Callous-Unemotional Traits Following Early Deprivation in Boys: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

PubMed

Humphreys, Kathryn L; McGoron, Lucy; Sheridan, Margaret A; McLaughlin, Katie A; Fox, Nathan A; Nelson, Charles A; Zeanah, Charles H

2015-12-01

Callous-unemotional (CU) traits in childhood are a developmental precursor to psychopathy, yet the origins and etiology of CU traits are not known. We examined CU traits among 12-year-old children exposed to severe early deprivation and evaluated whether a high-quality foster care intervention mitigated the development of high levels of CU traits. Participants were from the Bucharest Early Intervention Project, a randomized controlled trial of foster care for children in institutions. Children were recruited from institutions in Bucharest, Romania, along with age- and sex-matched children who were never institutionalized. Children raised in institutional settings were randomized (mean age = 22 months) to either a foster care group (n = 68) or a care-as-usual group (n = 68). CU traits were assessed at age 12.75 years in available participants from the randomized trial (n = 95) and children who were never institutionalized (n = 50). Children who experienced institutional rearing as young children had significantly higher levels of CU traits in early adolescence compared to children who were never institutionalized. Intent-to-treat analysis indicated that, among boys, CU traits were significantly lower among those who received the foster care intervention compared to those randomized to care as usual. Caregiver responsiveness to distress, but not caregiver warmth, mediated the intervention effect on CU traits in boys. These findings provide the first evidence to date that psychosocial intervention can prevent the onset of CU traits. Although severe early deprivation predicted higher levels of CU traits, high-quality foster care that emphasized responsive caregiving reduced the impact of deprivation on CU trait development for boys. The Bucharest Early Intervention Project; http://clinicaltrials.gov; NCT00747396. Copyright © 2015 American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Emotional communication in families of conduct problem children with high versus low callous-unemotional traits.

PubMed

Pasalich, Dave S; Dadds, Mark R; Vincent, Lucy C; Cooper, Francesca A; Hawes, David J; Brennan, John

2012-01-01

This study examined relationships between parent-child emotional communication and callous-unemotional (CU) traits and conduct problems. References to negative and positive emotions made by clinic-referred boys (3-9 years) and their parents were coded from direct observations of family interactions involving the discussion of shared emotional experiences. Although frequencies of parents' emotion expression did not generally relate to levels of CU traits, boys higher on CU traits were observed to be more expressive of negative emotions in conversation with their caregivers-specifically for sadness and fear. Independent coders did not judge these children to be less genuine in their emotion expression compared to their low-CU counterparts. We also examined whether CU traits moderated the relationship between parents' focus on emotions and conduct problem severity. Higher levels of maternal focus on negative emotions were found to be associated with lower conduct problems in high-CU boys but related to higher conduct problems in low-CU boys. Frequencies of fathers' emotional communication were unrelated to either child CU traits or conduct problems. We discuss the implications of these findings for the conceptualization of CU traits in preadolescent children, and interventions for conduct problems in children elevated on these traits.

The Associations between Callous-unemotional Traits and Symptoms of Conduct Problems, Hyperactivity and Emotional Problems: A Study of Adolescent Twins Screened for Neurodevelopmental Problems.

PubMed

Saunders, Marie Claire; Anckarsäter, Henrik; Lundström, Sebastian; Hellner, Clara; Lichtenstein, Paul; Fontaine, Nathalie M G

2018-05-05

Callous-unemotional (CU) traits (e.g., lack of empathy, lack of guilt, shallow affect) are associated with severe and persistent conduct problems in youth. There is evidence showing a substantial genetic correlation between CU traits and conduct problems. The etiological associations between CU traits and other psychopathological symptoms, including symptoms of hyperactivity and emotional problems (such as anxiety and depression symptoms), have been less explored. To examine the etiological associations between CU traits and symptoms of conduct problems, hyperactivity and emotional problems separately through the use of a twin design. Participants were same-sex twin pairs (n = 426 twins; 42% female; 43% MZ; age = 15) drawn from the Child and Adolescents Twin Study in Sweden, a longitudinal study of twins born in Sweden. The sample was mainly composed of children who screenpositive on neurodevelopmental problems/mental health problems or at-risk children (i.e., screen-negative children considered to be genetically at-risk siblings). We used self-report measures of CU traits, conduct problems, hyperactivity and emotional problems. Model-fitting analyses were conducted using structural equation modeling. We found a strong positive genetic correlation between CU traits and conduct problems and a moderate genetic correlation between CU traits and hyperactivity. We also found a relatively modest, but significant negative genetic correlation between CU traits and emotional problems. Using a sample of adolescent twins screened for neurodevelopmental problems, we replicated previous findings that showed a strong genetic correlation between CU traits and conduct problems and we extended research by examining further the etiological associations between CU traits and symptoms of hyperactivity and emotional problems.

Callous unemotional traits in children with disruptive behavior disorder: Predictors of developmental trajectories and adolescent outcomes.

PubMed

Muratori, Pietro; Lochman, John E; Manfredi, Azzurra; Milone, Annarita; Nocentini, Annalaura; Pisano, Simone; Masi, Gabriele

2016-02-28

The present study investigated trajectories of Callous Unemotional (CU) traits in youth with Disruptive Behavior Disorder diagnosis followed-up from childhood to adolescence, to explore possible predictors of these trajectories, and to individuate adolescent clinical outcomes. A sample of 59 Italian referred children with Disruptive Behavior Disorder (53 boys and 6 girls, 21 with Conduct Disorder) was followed up from childhood to adolescence. CU traits were assessed with CU-scale of the Antisocial Process Screening Device-parent report. Latent growth curve models showed that CU traits are likely to decrease linearly from 9 to 15 years old, with a deceleration in adolescence (from 12 to 15). There was substantial individual variability in the rate of change of CU traits over time: patients with a minor decrease of CU symptoms during childhood were at increased risk for severe behavioral problems and substance use into adolescence. Although lower level of socio-economic status and lower level of parenting involvement were associated to elevated levels of CU traits at baseline evaluation, none of the considered clinical and environmental factors predicted the levels of CU traits. The current longitudinal research suggests that adolescent outcomes of Disruptive Behavior Disorder be influenced by CU traits trajectories during childhood. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Violent media exposure, aggression and CU traits in adolescence: Testing the selection and socialization hypotheses.

PubMed

Rydell, Ann-Margret

2016-10-01

We investigated the role of exposure to violent action for later aggression and for later callous-unemotional traits in a sample of Swedish adolescents (N = 77-85), testing the selection and socialization hypotheses. Adolescents reported on violent delinquency and on callous-unemotional (CU) traits at age 15, on their media habits at age 16 and on reactive and proactive aggression and CU traits at age 18. The socialization hypothesis was supported with regard to aggression, that is, violent delinquency did not affect consumption of violent action, but controlling for violent delinquency, consumption of violent action added to proactive aggression and, marginally, to reactive aggression. The selection hypothesis was supported with regard to CU traits, that is, high levels of CU traits predicted frequent consumption of violent action, but consumption of violent action did not affect later levels of CU traits. Frequent violent media use was associated with later aggression. The associations between CU traits and violent media need further study. Copyright © 2016 The Foundation for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Callous-Unemotional Traits and Autonomic Functioning in Toddlerhood Interact to Predict Externalizing Behaviors in Preschool.

PubMed

Wagner, Nicholas J; Hastings, Paul D; Rubin, Kenneth H

2017-11-29

Callous-unemotional (CU) traits are one meaningful risk factor which helps to explain heterogeneity in the emergence of externalizing behavior problems. While the extant literature demonstrates links between early CU traits and later externalizing problems, there is a dearth of research examining for whom early CU traits confer risk. Data from a longitudinal study (n = 108) were used to examine the extent to which parasympathetic functioning moderated links between CU traits in toddlerhood (m age  = 24.99 months) and externalizing behavior problems at preschool-age (m age  = 51 months). Neither CU traits nor parasympathetic functioning at age 2 directly predicted later externalizing behaviors. However, results show that high levels of CU traits predict elevated externalizing behavior problems, but only for toddlers exhibiting either high baseline respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) or little to no RSA suppression in response to a fear stimulus.

Callous-unemotional traits and empathy deficits: Mediating effects of affective perspective-taking and facial emotion recognition.

PubMed

Lui, Joyce H L; Barry, Christopher T; Sacco, Donald F

2016-09-01

Although empathy deficits are thought to be associated with callous-unemotional (CU) traits, findings remain equivocal and little is known about what specific abilities may underlie these purported deficits. Affective perspective-taking (APT) and facial emotion recognition may be implicated, given their independent associations with both empathy and CU traits. The current study examined how CU traits relate to cognitive and affective empathy and whether APT and facial emotion recognition mediate these relations. Participants were 103 adolescents (70 males) aged 16-18 attending a residential programme. CU traits were negatively associated with cognitive and affective empathy to a similar degree. The association between CU traits and affective empathy was partially mediated by APT. Results suggest that assessing mechanisms that may underlie empathic deficits, such as perspective-taking, may be important for youth with CU traits and may inform targets of intervention.

Self Regulation, Cognitive Capacity and Risk Taking: Investigating Heterogeneity Among Adolescents with Callous-Unemotional Traits.

PubMed

Hadjicharalambous, Maria-Zoe; Fanti, Kostas A

2018-06-01

The majority of prior work focuses on understanding the association between callous-unemotional (CU) traits and conduct problems, providing limited information on why some youth who score high on CU traits do not engage in conduct problem behaviors. The current study investigated heterogeneity among a sub-sample of adolescents with CU traits (N = 152; Mage = 13.09, SD = 2.76, 45.6% female) identified from a large community sample. Three groups were compared: control, callous-unemotional traits only (CU-only), and combined callous-unemotional and conduct problems (CU + CP). Participants were administered a battery of neuropsychological computerized tasks assessing risk taking, self-regulation and cognitive capacity. Results indicated that youth high on CU traits and low on CP scored higher on self-regulation and were less likely to make risky decisions compared to youth with combined CU + CP. In general, the findings provided information that heterogeneity within CU traits can be explained based on differences in neuro-cognitive functioning. In addition, the characteristics of youth high on CU traits only can provide information for interventions aiming to decrease conduct problems among youth high on these traits.

Callous-Unemotional Traits Trajectories Interact with Earlier Conduct Problems and Executive Control to Predict Violence and Substance Use Among High Risk Male Adolescents.

PubMed

Baskin-Sommers, Arielle R; Waller, Rebecca; Fish, Ari M; Hyde, Luke W

2015-11-01

Callous-unemotional (CU) traits, conduct problems (CP), and deficits in executive control are all linked to the development of more severe antisocial behavior, including violence and substance use. Though previous research has examined the impact of these factors on antisocial outcomes, little work has examined trajectories of CU traits across adolescence and how these trajectories predict greater antisocial behavior in adulthood. Moreover, no study has assessed how severity of early CP and executive control may exacerbate these pathways and increase risk for later violence and substance use. The current study (a) identified trajectories of CU traits among a large, high-risk sample of adolescent males, (b) examined the relationship between CU traits trajectories and future violence and substance use, and (c) examined whether early CP and executive control moderated the effects of a high CU traits trajectory membership and high CP on violence and substance use. Results indicated that: (a) CU traits could be grouped into three stable trajectories across adolescence, (b) the 'high' CU traits trajectory, particularly in the presence of 'elevated' CP, was related to higher violence and substance use, over and above a variety of environmental risk factors, and (c) the effects the 'high' CU traits trajectory on both violence and substance and in the presence of 'elevated' CP was stronger among youth with high executive control. These findings highlight the utility of identifying subgroups of youth who differ on trajectories of CU traits for understanding the development and maintenance of severe antisocial behavior.

A longitudinal twin study of callous-unemotional traits during childhood.

PubMed

Henry, Jeffrey; Dionne, Ginette; Viding, Essi; Petitclerc, Amélie; Feng, Bei; Vitaro, Frank; Brendgen, Mara; Tremblay, Richard E; Boivin, Michel

2018-05-01

Previous research indicates that genetic factors largely account for the stability of callous-unemotional (CU) traits in adolescence. However, the genetic-environmental etiology of the development of CU traits has not been extensively investigated in childhood, despite work showing the reliable measurement and stability of CU traits from a young age. The aim of this study was to investigate the temporal pattern of genetic and environmental etiology of CU traits across primary school, from school entry (7 years) to middle (9 and 10 years) and late childhood (12 years). Data were collected in a population sample of twins composed of 662 twin pairs (Quebec Newborn Twin Study). CU traits were reported by teachers and analyzed using a biometric latent growth curve model and a Cholesky decomposition model. Latent growth curve analyses revealed that genetic factors explain most of the variance in the intercept of CU traits. Individual differences in change over time were not significant. The Cholesky model revealed that genetic factors at 7 years had enduring contributions to CU traits at 9, 10, and 12 years. New, modest genetic contributions appeared at 9 and 10 years. Nonshared environmental contributions were generally age-specific. No shared environmental contributions were detected. In sum, both modeling approaches showed that genetic factors underlie CU traits during childhood. Initial and new genetic contributions arise during this period. Environments have substantial contributions, over and above genetic factors. Future research should investigate the source of genetic risk associated with CU traits. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Evaluating Callous-Unemotional Traits as a Personality Construct.

PubMed

Frick, Paul J; Ray, James V

2015-12-01

We evaluate the importance of callous-unemotional (CU) traits as a personality construct in isolation from other facets of psychopathy. Specifically, we review research suggesting that these traits are useful for designating a subgroup of youth with serious conduct problems who differ from other antisocial youth on important biological, emotional, cognitive, and social characteristics. In addition, the temperamental features related to CU traits are risk factors for impairments in conscience development in young children. Thus, these traits could advance theoretical models explaining the development of severe antisocial behavior and psychopathy. CU traits also have important clinical utility because they designate a particularly severe and impaired subgroup of antisocial youth, leading to their inclusion in the DSM-5. As a result of this inclusion in diagnostic classification, there has been an increased focus on how to best assess CU traits, and we discuss several key issues in their assessment, highlighting several limitations in existing measures. Finally, the increased use of CU traits, separately from other facets of psychopathy, makes it important to determine how these traits relate to other personality constructs. Thus, we examine how measures of CU traits relate to the broader construct of psychopathy and to other basic personality dimensions. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Childhood callous-unemotional traits moderate the relation between parenting distress and conduct problems over time.

PubMed

Fanti, Kostas A; Centifanti, Luna C Munoz

2014-01-01

The present short-term longitudinal study examines the bidirectional effects among paternal-reported and maternal-reported involvement, distress and conduct-problems (CP) in children ages 7–12 years with callous-unemotional (CU) traits as a potential moderator. Latent profile analysis revealed four groups: high, moderate, decreasing, and low on CU traits. Findings suggested that children high on CU traits were at higher risk to exhibit CP and were more likely to experience low parental-involvement and high parental-distress compared to children with low, decreasing, and moderate CU traits. Findings from the cross-lagged structural equation model suggested that high levels of CP predicted increases in parenting distress, and this was shown for youth with high levels of CU traits. In turn, parental-reported distress predicted increases in CP for children in the low and decreasing CU groups. A negative bidirectional association between maternal-involvement and CP was also identified. Findings extend cross-sectional research showing parents become distressed by CP behaviors, particularly when accompanied by high CU traits.

The Moderating Role of Anxiety in the Associations of Callous-Unemotional Traits with Self-Report and Laboratory Measures of Affective and Cognitive Empathy.

PubMed

Kahn, Rachel E; Frick, Paul J; Golmaryami, Farrah N; Marsee, Monica A

2017-04-01

In a sample of detained male adolescents (n = 107; Mean age = 15.50; SD = 1.30), we tested whether anxiety moderated the association of CU traits with self-report and computerized measures of affective (emotional reactivity) and cognitive (affective facial recognition and Theory of Mind [ToM]) empathy. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that CU traits were negatively associated with self-reports of affective empathy and this association was not moderated by level of anxiety. Significant interactions revealed that CU traits were negatively associated with cognitive empathy (self-report) only at high levels of anxiety, whereas CU traits were positively associated with cognitive empathy on the ToM task only at low levels of anxiety. CU traits were also associated with greater fear recognition accuracy at low levels of anxiety. Implications for understanding and treating different variants of CU traits (i.e., primary and secondary) are discussed.

The link between callous-unemotional traits and neural mechanisms of reward processing: An fMRI study.

PubMed

Veroude, Kim; von Rhein, Daniel; Chauvin, Roselyne J M; van Dongen, Eelco V; Mennes, Maarten J J; Franke, Barbara; Heslenfeld, Dirk J; Oosterlaan, Jaap; Hartman, Catharina A; Hoekstra, Pieter J; Glennon, Jeffrey C; Buitelaar, Jan K

2016-09-30

Callous-unemotional (CU) traits, i.e., unconcernedness and lack of prosocial feelings, may manifest in Conduct Disorder (CD), but also in Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). These disorders have been associated with aberrant reward processing, while the influence of CU traits is unclear. Using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), we examined whether CU traits affect the neural circuit for reward. A Monetary Incentive Delay (MID) task was administered to 328 adolescents and young adults with varying levels of CU traits: 40 participants with ODD/CD plus ADHD, 101 participants with ADHD only, 84 siblings of probands with ADHD and 103 typically developing (TD) individuals. During reward anticipation, CU traits related negatively to medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) activity, independent of ADHD symptoms and ODD/CD diagnosis. Our results indicate that CU traits are a valuable dimension for assessing the neural basis of reward processing. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Identifying Stable Variants of Callous-Unemotional Traits: A Longitudinal Study of At-Risk Girls

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Goulter, Natalie; Kimonis, Eva R.; Hawes, Samuel W.; Stepp, Stephanie; Hipwell, Alison E.

2017-01-01

Callous-unemotional (CU) traits have proven important for designating children and adolescents showing a pattern of particularly severe, stable, and aggressive antisocial behaviors (Frick, Ray, Thornton, & Kahn, 2014). Individuals with secondary CU traits represent a subpopulation that are distinguished from those with primary CU traits by…

Callous-Unemotional Traits, Proactive Aggression, and Treatment Outcomes of Aggressive Children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

PubMed Central

Blader, Joseph C.; Pliszka, Steven R.; Kafantaris, Vivian; Foley, Carmel A.; Crowell, Judith A.; Carlson, Gabrielle A.; Sauder, Colin; Margulies, David M.; Sinha, Christa; Sverd, Jeffrey; Matthews, Thomas L.; Bailey, Brigitte Y.; Daviss, W. Burleson

2013-01-01

Objective Stimulant treatment improves impulse control among children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Decreased aggression often accompanies stimulant pharmacotherapy, suggesting that impulsiveness is integral to their aggressive behavior. However, children with high callous-unemotional (CU) traits and proactive aggression may benefit less from ADHD pharmacotherapy because their aggressive behavior seems more purposeful and deliberate. This study’s objective was to determine if pretreatment CU traits and proactive aggression affect treatment outcomes among aggressive children with ADHD receiving stimulant monotherapy. Method We implemented a stimulant optimization protocol with 160 6- to 13-year-olds (mean [SD] age of 9.31 [2.02] years; 78.75% males) with ADHD, oppositional defiant or conduct disorder, and significant aggressive behavior. Family-focused behavioral intervention was provided concurrently. Primary outcome was the Retrospective Modified Overt Aggression Scale. The Antisocial Process Screening Device and the Aggression Scale, also completed by parents, measured CU traits and proactive aggression, respectively. Analyses examined moderating effects of CU traits and proactive aggression on outcomes. Results 82 children (51%) experienced remission of aggressive behavior. Neither CU traits nor proactive aggression predicted remission (CU traits: odds ratio=0.94, 95% CI=0.80–1.11; proactive aggression, odds ratio=1.05, 95% CI=0.86–1.29). Children whose overall aggression remitted showed decreases in CU traits (effect size=−0.379, 95% CI=−0.60 to −0.16) and proactive aggression (effect size=−0.463, 95% CI=−0.69 to −0.23). Conclusions Findings suggest that pretreatment CU traits and proactive aggression do not forecast worse outcomes for aggressive children with ADHD receiving optimized stimulant pharmacotherapy. With such treatment, CU traits and proactive aggression may decline alongside other behavioral improvements. PMID:24290461

Moderation of prior exposure to trauma on the inverse relationship between callous-unemotional traits and amygdala responses to fearful expressions: an exploratory study.

PubMed

Meffert, Harma; Thornton, Laura C; Tyler, Patrick M; Botkin, Mary L; Erway, Anna K; Kolli, Venkata; Pope, Kayla; White, Stuart F; Blair, R James R

2018-02-12

Previous work has shown that amygdala responsiveness to fearful expressions is inversely related to level of callous-unemotional (CU) traits (i.e. reduced guilt and empathy) in youth with conduct problems. However, some research has suggested that the relationship between pathophysiology and CU traits may be different in those youth with significant prior trauma exposure. In experiment 1, 72 youth with varying levels of disruptive behavior and trauma exposure performed a gender discrimination task while viewing morphed fear expressions (0, 50, 100, 150 fear) and Blood Oxygenation Level Dependent responses were recorded. In experiment 2, 66 of these youth performed the Social Goals Task, which measures self-reports of the importance of specific social goals to the participant in provoking social situations. In experiment 1, a significant CU traits-by-trauma exposure interaction was observed within right amygdala; fear intensity-modulated amygdala responses negatively predicted CU traits for those youth with low levels of trauma but positively predicted CU traits for those with high levels of trauma. In experiment 2, a bootstrapped model revealed that the indirect effect of fear intensity amygdala response on social goal importance through CU traits is moderated by prior trauma exposure. This study, while exploratory, indicates that the pathophysiology associated with CU traits differs in youth as a function of prior trauma exposure. These data suggest that prior trauma exposure should be considered when evaluating potential interventions for youth with high CU traits.

Trajectories of Callous-Unemotional Traits in Childhood Predict Different Forms of Peer Victimization in Adolescence.

PubMed

Fontaine, Nathalie M G; Hanscombe, Ken B; Berg, Mark T; McCrory, Eamon J; Viding, Essi

2018-01-01

Callous-unemotional (CU) traits (e.g., lack of empathy and guilt) differentiate a group of children at particularly high risk for engaging in aggressive behavior, notably bullying. However, little is known about whether youths with CU traits are at risk for being victimized by their peers. We examined the associations between trajectories of CU traits in childhood (between 7 and 12 years old) and peer victimization in adolescence (14 years old). The participants were drawn from the Twins Early Development Study, a longitudinal population-based study of twins born in England and in Wales. The trajectories of CU traits (i.e., stable high, increasing, decreasing and stable low) were identified through general growth mixture modeling. Four forms of peer victimization were considered: physical victimization, verbal victimization, social manipulation, and attacks on property. We found that youths with stable high levels, increasing levels, and decreasing levels of CU traits in childhood had higher levels of physical victimization in adolescence, not explained by other predictors at age 7 (e.g., conduct problems). Youths with increasing levels of CU traits, compared with the ones with stable low levels, also had higher levels of verbal victimization, social manipulation, and attacks on property. Our findings highlight the importance of distinct trajectories of CU traits in accounting for the experience of different forms of peer victimization. Youths with CU traits may benefit from bullying prevention programs, as they are likely to be the targets of peer victimization.

Emotion socialization style in parents of children with callous-unemotional traits.

PubMed

Pasalich, Dave S; Waschbusch, Daniel A; Dadds, Mark R; Hawes, David J

2014-01-01

Children with callous-unemotional (CU) traits manifest a range of deficits in their emotional functioning, and parents play a key role in socializing children's understanding, experience, expression, and regulation of emotions. However, research examining emotion-related parenting in families of children with CU traits is scarce. In two independent studies we examined emotion socialization styles in parents of children high on CU traits. In Study 1, we assessed parents' self-reported beliefs and feelings regarding their own and their child's emotions, in a sample of 111 clinic-referred and community children aged 7-12 years. In Study 2, we directly observed parents' responding to child emotion during an emotional reminiscing task, in a clinic sample of 59 conduct-problem children aged 3-9 years. Taken together, the results were consistent in suggesting that the mothers of children with higher levels of CU traits are more likely to have affective attitudes that are less accepting of emotion (Study 1), and emotion socialization practices that are more dismissing of child emotion (Study 2). Fathers' emotion socialization beliefs and practices were unrelated to levels of CU traits. Our findings provide initial evidence for a relationship between CU traits and parents' emotion socialization style, and have significant implications for the design of novel family-based interventions targeting CU traits and co-occurring conduct problems.

Bidirectional associations between parenting behavior and child callous-unemotional traits: does parental depression moderate this link?

PubMed

Childs, Amber Wimsatt; Fite, Paula J; Moore, Todd M; Lochman, John E; Pardini, Dustin A

2014-10-01

The current study longitudinally examined bidirectional associations between callous-unemotional (CU) traits and parenting dimensions. This study extended the literature by examining whether parental depression moderated these relations in a pre-adolescent sample. Proposed relations were examined using a longitudinal sample of 120 aggressive children (59.6 % male) who were in the 4th grade (M = 10.56 years, SD = 0.56) at baseline and were followed annually over 4 years. A series of generalized estimating equation (GEE) models were used to examine proposed relations. At the first order level, corporal punishment (p < . 001) and poor supervision/monitoring predicted increases in CU traits (p = 0.03) however, the inverse relations were not found. Importantly, parental depression moderated the link between corporal punishment and CU traits. Specifically, at high levels of depression, corporal punishment was predictive of increases in CU traits, but was unrelated to CU traits at low levels of depression. These findings aid in our understanding of the link between corporal punishment and CU traits by highlighting conditions under which certain parenting behaviors have an impact on CU traits, which in turn, may have important intervention implications. Further clinical implications, limitations and future directions are discussed.

Early warm-rewarding parenting moderates the genetic contributions to callous-unemotional traits in childhood.

PubMed

Henry, Jeffrey; Dionne, Ginette; Viding, Essi; Vitaro, Frank; Brendgen, Mara; Tremblay, Richard E; Boivin, Michel

2018-04-23

Previous gene-environment interaction studies of CU traits have relied on the candidate gene approach, which does not account for the entire genetic load of complex phenotypes. Moreover, these studies have not examined the role of positive environmental factors such as warm/rewarding parenting. The aim of the present study was to determine whether early warm/rewarding parenting moderates the genetic contributions (i.e., heritability) to callous-unemotional (CU) traits at school age. Data were collected in a population sample of 662 twin pairs (Quebec Newborn Twin Study - QNTS). Mothers reported on their warm/rewarding parenting. Teachers assessed children's CU traits. These reports were subjected to twin modeling. Callous-unemotional traits were highly heritable, with the remaining variance accounted for by nonshared environmental factors. Warm/rewarding parenting significantly moderated the role of genes in CU traits; heritability was lower when children received high warm/rewarding parenting than when they were exposed to low warm/rewarding parenting. High warm/rewarding parenting may partly impede the genetic expression of CU traits. Developmental models of CU traits need to account for such gene-environment processes. © 2018 Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.

Social cognition: empirical contribution. The developmental building blocks of psychopathic traits: revisiting the role of theory of mind.

PubMed

Sharp, Carla; Vanwoerden, Salome

2014-02-01

In the context of personality disorder development, theories of typical and atypical development both emphasize social cognition as an important building block for personality development. Prior claims of intact theory of mind (ToM) abilities in psychopathic individuals have relied upon a narrow conception of ToM as equivalent to "cognitive empathy." In this article, the authors make use of a broader conception of ToM comprising top-down and bottom-up processing, as well as the fractionation of ToM in terms of reduced or excessive ToM function, to examine relationships between ToM and psychopathic traits. A total of 342 adolescents (ages 12-17; Mage 15.39; SD = 1.45; 61.5% females) completed the Movie Assessment for Social Cognition (Dziobek, Fleck, Kalbe, et al., 2006) and the Child Eyes Test (Baron-Cohen, Wheelwright, Hill, Raste, & Plumb, 2001) in addition to three measures of psychopathic traits. Results demonstrated unique relations between the affective components of psychopathy (callous-unemotional traits [CU traits]) and impairment in both top-down and bottom-up ToM. In addition, excessive ToM related to affective components of psychopathy, while reduced or no ToM related to behavioral components of psychopathy. In mediational analyses, bottom-up ToM was shown to be necessary for top-town ToM in its relation with CU traits. Taken together, these results from the study lend support to revisiting the link between ToM and psychopathy.

Commentary: Integrating callous and unemotional traits into the definition of antisocial behaviour--a commentary on Frick et al. (2014).

PubMed

Rowe, Richard

2014-06-01

Heterogeneity in the presentation, antecedents, prognosis and treatment response of antisocial behaviour has long provided a challenge to developmental psychopathology researchers. As illustrated in the incisive Frick and colleagues' Annual Research Review, there is growing evidence that the presence of high callous-unemotional (CU) traits identifies a subgroup of antisocial young people with a particularly aggressive and pervasive form of disorder. Frick and colleagues extend their developmental psychopathology approach to CU traits by linking in theories of conscience development and considering evidence on the stability of CU traits. This commentary addresses these themes and the area more generally, considering (1) comparison of a CU specifier to alternative approaches to antisocial heterogeneity (2) high CU traits in the absence of antisocial behaviour and (3) aspects of the measurement of CU traits. © 2014 The Author. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. © 2014 Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.

Predictive value of callous-unemotional traits in a large community sample.

PubMed

Moran, Paul; Rowe, Richard; Flach, Clare; Briskman, Jacqueline; Ford, Tamsin; Maughan, Barbara; Scott, Stephen; Goodman, Robert

2009-11-01

Callous-unemotional (CU) traits in children and adolescents are increasingly recognized as a distinctive dimension of prognostic importance in clinical samples. Nevertheless, comparatively little is known about the longitudinal effects of these personality traits on the mental health of young people from the general population. Using a large representative sample of children and adolescents living in Great Britain, we set out to examine the effects of CU traits on a range of mental health outcomes measured 3 years after the initial assessment. Parents were interviewed to determine the presence of CU traits in a representative sample of 7,636 children and adolescents. The parents also completed the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, a broad measure of childhood psychopathology. Three years later, parents repeated the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. At 3-year follow-up, CU traits were associated with conduct, hyperactivity, emotional, and total symptom scores. After adjusting for the effects of all covariates, including baseline symptom score, CU traits remained robustly associated with the overall levels of conduct problems and emotional problems and with total psychiatric difficulties at 3-year follow-up. Callous-unemotional traits are independently associated with future psychiatric difficulties in children and adolescents. An assessment of CU traits adds small but significant improvements to the prediction of future psychopathology.

The Contribution of Personality and Refugee Camp Experience to Callous and Unemotional Traits Among Immigrant Adolescents in the United States: Implications for the DSM-5 "Limited Prosocial Emotions" Specifier.

PubMed

Latzman, Robert D; Malikina, Mariya V; Hecht, Lisa K; Lilienfeld, Scott O; Chan, Wing Yi

2016-04-01

Callous and Unemotional (C&U) traits characterize a group of adolescents who engage and persist in especially severe antisocial behaviors. These traits have been included in DSM-5 within a "Limited Prosocial Emotions" (LPE) specifier for Conduct Disorder. To investigate the generalizability of this specifier to non-Western cultures, we examined associations among Big Five personality, refugee camp experience, and C&U traits among 81 immigrant adolescents from non-Western cultures. Adolescents with refugee camp history endorsed higher levels of Uncaring than other adolescents. Personality traits explained 6 (Unemotional) to 18 % (Callousness) of the variance in C&U traits. The association between Neuroticism and Callousness held only for adolescents with a refugee camp history. Our results corroborate the importance of considering personality to understand C&U traits and the LPE specifier. Results also raise questions regarding the applicability of C&U traits to non-Western adolescents with varying pre-immigration experiences, and raise the possibility that the LPE specifier is vulnerable to false-positive identifications among such individuals.

Unemotional on all counts: Evidence of reduced affective responses in individuals with high callous-unemotional traits across emotion systems and valences.

PubMed

Fanti, Kostas A; Panayiotou, Georgia; Lombardo, Michael V; Kyranides, Melina Nicole

2016-01-01

The current study aimed to identify atypical neurophysiological activity associated with deficient affective processing in individuals with high callous-unemotional traits (CU). Fifty-six participants (M age = 20.52; 46% male) divided in two groups, differentiated on levels of CU traits, were invited to participate in the experimental phase of the study. Medial prefrontal cortex activity, measured with functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy, and facial electro-myography activity were recorded during videos depicting violent, comedy and neutral scenes. Individuals high on CU traits showed similar medial prefrontal cortex oxygenated hemoglobin (HbO(2)) activity to positive and negative films, while the pre-frontal cortical responses of low CU individuals were more pronounced to positive than negative materials. High CU participants also showed reduced facial electromyography at the corrugator muscle in response to violent films, which was not differentiated from their responses to comedy films. These findings suggest that individuals high on CU traits show reduced but not absent (i.e., flat) affect to emotional material. Deficits in processing positive and negative valent material, measured with different neuro-physiological modalities, might be essential to understand CU traits.

Latent Profiles of Externalizing Psychopathology and Their Relation to Children's Aggression and Social Behavior.

PubMed

Andrade, Brendan F; Wade, Mark

2016-01-01

This study identified profiles of clinic-referred children with disruptive behavior and determined the association between identified profiles and children's aggression, peer problems, and prosocial skills. Parents and teachers of 208 children (163 boys) aged 6 to 12 years (Mage = 8.80, SD = 1.75) completed measures to assess children's callous-unemotional (CU) traits, inattentive-impulsive-overactive (IO) and oppositional-defiant (OD) behavior, aggression, and social behaviors. Latent class analysis was used to identify the profiles, and the pseudoclass draw method to test the equality of means for each of the aggression and social behavioral outcomes across the latent classes. Five profiles were identified: (1) Low (35.6% of children), with relatively low levels of CU traits and IO and OD behavior; (2) Low-Moderate (30.8%), with low-moderate levels of CU traits, low IO and moderate OD behavior; (3) Moderate (21.6%), with moderate levels of CU traits and IO and moderate-high OD behavior; (4) Moderate-High (7.2%), with moderate-high levels of CU traits, high IO and moderate-high OD behavior; and (5) High (4.8%), with high levels of CU traits, IO and OD behavior. Children categorized into profiles showed important differences in level of aggression and social behavior. The overlap between CU traits, IO, and OD behavior add to understanding of child psychopathology that influences behavior and clinical outcomes.

Violence Exposure Subtypes Differentially Mediate the Relation between Callous-Unemotional Traits and Adolescent Delinquency.

PubMed

Oberth, Carla; Zheng, Yao; McMahon, Robert J

2017-11-01

Research with children and adolescents has established a link between callous-unemotional (CU) traits and delinquency, as well as a link between violence exposure (witnessing and direct victimization) and diverse negative and antisocial outcomes. Little attention has been paid to investigating the association among CU traits, violence exposure, and various forms of delinquency. Using a sample of 753 adolescents (male =58%; African American =46%), the current study aimed to elucidate the mediating role of violence exposure (measured in grades 7, 8, 10, 11) on the relationship between CU traits measured in grade 7 and later delinquency (i.e., property, violent, drug, and sexual) assessed in grade 12. Total violence exposure (witnessing and direct victimization) mediated the association between CU traits and all forms of delinquency. When looking at witnessing and direct victimization separately, however, only witnessing violence mediated the relationship between CU traits and all forms of delinquency. These results highlight the importance of violence exposure in the CU-delinquency link, and showed the differential roles of indirect and direct forms of violence exposure on the association. Witnessing and direct victimization may involve different underlying mechanisms influencing developmental outcomes in youth. These findings have important implications for understanding developmental models of violence exposure, CU traits, and delinquency, as well as interventions for youth who have experienced both indirect and direct forms of violence.

Verbal, facial and autonomic responses to empathy-eliciting film clips by disruptive male adolescents with high versus low callous-unemotional traits.

PubMed

de Wied, Minet; van Boxtel, Anton; Matthys, Walter; Meeus, Wim

2012-02-01

This study examined empathy-related responding in male adolescents with disruptive behavior disorder (DBD), high or low on callous-unemotional (CU) traits. Facial electromyographic (EMG) and heart rate (HR) responses were monitored during exposure to empathy-inducing film clips portraying sadness, anger or happiness. Self-reports were assessed afterward. In agreement with expectations, DBD adolescents with high CU traits showed significantly lower levels of empathic sadness than healthy controls across all response systems. Between DBD subgroups significant differences emerged at the level of autonomic (not verbal or facial) reactions to sadness, with high CU respondents showing less HR change from baseline than low CU respondents. The study also examined basal patterns of autonomic function. Resting HR was not different between groups, but resting respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) was significantly lower in DBD adolescents with high CU traits compared to controls. Results support the notion that CU traits designate a distinct subgroup of DBD individuals.

Callous-unemotional traits modulate the neural response associated with punishing another individual during social exchange: a preliminary investigation.

PubMed

White, Stuart F; Brislin, Sarah J; Meffert, Harma; Sinclair, Stephen; Blair, R James R

2013-02-01

The current study examined whether Callous-Unemotional (CU) traits, a core component of psychopathy, modulate neural responses of participants engaged in a social exchange game. In this task, participants were offered an allocation of money and then given the chance to punish the offerer. Twenty youth participated and responses to both offers and the participant's punishment (or not) of these offers were examined. Increasingly unfair offers were associated with increased dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) activity but this responsiveness was not modulated by CU traits. Increasing punishment of unfair offers was associated with increased dACC and anterior insula activity and this activity was modulated by CU traits. Higher CU trait participants showed a weaker association between activity and punishment level. These data suggest that CU traits are associated with appropriate expectations of other individual's normative behavior but weaker representations of such information when guiding behavior of the self.

Emotional Intelligence and Callous-Unemotional Traits in Incarcerated Adolescents

PubMed Central

Kahn, Rachel E.; Ermer, Elsa; Salovey, Peter; Kiehl, Kent A.

2016-01-01

Emotional intelligence (EI) is the ability to perceive, manage, and reason about emotions and to use this information to guide thinking and behavior adaptively. Youth with callous-unemotional (CU) traits demonstrate a variety of affective deficits, including impairment in recognition of emotion and reduced emotional responsiveness to distress or pain in others. We examined the association between ability EI and CU traits in a sample of incarcerated adolescents (n = 141) using an expert-rater device (Psychopathy Checklist Youth Version (PCL-YV; 1) and self-report assessments of CU traits. EI was assessed using the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test-Youth Version, Research Version (MSCEIT-YV-R; 2). Similar to findings in adult forensic populations, high levels of CU traits in high risk youth were associated with lower EI, particularly higher order EI skills. Identifying impairment on EI abilities may have important implications for emerging treatment and intervention developments for youth with high levels of CU traits. PMID:26779640

Assessing Callous-Unemotional Traits in Preschool Children With Disruptive Behavior Problems Using Peer Reports.

PubMed

Graziano, Paulo A; Ros, Rosmary; Haas, Sarah; Hart, Katie; Slavec, Janine; Waschbusch, Daniel; Garcia, Alexis

2016-01-01

The goal of this study was to examine the extent to which preschoolers with externalizing behavior problems (EBP) can identify behaviors indicative of callous-unemotional (CU) traits among their peers. Participants for this study included 86 preschool children (69% boys; Mage = 5.07 years) with at-risk or clinically elevated levels of EBP who were attending a summer treatment camp. Data collected from the children, their peers, and the counselors who worked at the summer camp examined preschoolers' social preference, likability, and behaviors indicative of CU. Parents and preschool teachers also reported on children's CU traits and severity of behavioral impairment, as well as school readiness. Peer nominations of CU traits showed (a) excellent factor structure as evidenced by clear CU items (e.g., "don't feel bad when they do something wrong") versus more prosocial items ("share," "cooperate"); (b) moderate construct validity when compared to counselor reports of the CU factor as well as preschool teacher reported ratings of CU traits and severity of behavioral impairment; and (c) good utility as evidenced by associations with peer and counselor rated social preference, likability, and school readiness measures as rated by both parents and preschool teachers. These findings indicate that as early as preschool, children with EBP can identify peers who engage in behaviors indicative of CU traits, which have significant implications for children's social status and overall school readiness.

Callous-unemotional traits, proactive aggression, and treatment outcomes of aggressive children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

PubMed

Blader, Joseph C; Pliszka, Steven R; Kafantaris, Vivian; Foley, Carmel A; Crowell, Judith A; Carlson, Gabrielle A; Sauder, Colin L; Margulies, David M; Sinha, Christa; Sverd, Jeffrey; Matthews, Thomas L; Bailey, Brigitte Y; Daviss, W Burleson

2013-12-01

Stimulant treatment improves impulse control among children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Decreased aggression often accompanies stimulant pharmacotherapy, suggesting that impulsiveness is integral to aggressive behavior in these children. However, children with high callous-unemotional (CU) traits and proactive aggression may benefit less from ADHD pharmacotherapy, because their aggressive behavior seems more purposeful and deliberate. This study's objective was to determine whether pretreatment CU traits and proactive aggression affect treatment outcomes among aggressive children with ADHD receiving stimulant monotherapy. We implemented a stimulant optimization protocol with 160 children 6 to 13 years of age (mean [SD] age of 9.31 [2.02] years; 78.75% male) with ADHD, oppositional defiant or conduct disorder, and significant aggressive behavior. Family-focused behavioral intervention was provided concurrently. The primary outcome was the Retrospective Modified Overt Aggression Scale. The Antisocial Process Screening Device and the Aggression Scale, also completed by parents, measured CU traits and proactive aggression, respectively. Analyses examined moderating effects of CU traits and proactive aggression on outcomes. In all, 82 children (51%) experienced remission of aggressive behavior. Neither CU traits nor proactive aggression predicted remission (CU traits: odds ratio [OR] = 0.94, 95% CI = 0.80-1.11; proactive aggression, OR = 1.05, 95% CI = 0.86-1.29). Children whose overall aggression remitted showed decreases in CU traits (effect size = -0.379, 95% CI = -0.60 to -0.16) and proactive aggression (effect size = -0.463, 95% CI = -0.69 to -0.23). Findings suggest that pretreatment CU traits and proactive aggression do not forecast worse outcomes for aggressive children with ADHD receiving optimized stimulant pharmacotherapy. With such treatment, CU traits and proactive aggression may decline alongside other behavioral improvements. Clinical trial registration information--Medication Strategies for Treating Aggressive Behavior in Youth With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder; http://clinicaltrials.gov/; NCT00228046; and Effectiveness of Combined Medication Treatment for Aggression in Children With Attention Deficit With Hyperactivity Disorder (The SPICY Study); http://clinicaltrials.gov/; NCT00794625. Copyright © 2013 American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Do neurocognitive deficits in decision making differentiate conduct disorder subtypes?

PubMed

Fanti, Kostas A; Kimonis, Eva R; Hadjicharalambous, Maria-Zoe; Steinberg, Laurence

2016-09-01

The present study aimed to test whether neurocognitive deficits involved in decision making underlie subtypes of conduct-disorder (CD) differentiated on the basis of callous-unemotional (CU) traits. Eighty-five participants (M age = 10.94 years) were selected from a sample of 1200 children based on repeated assessment of CD and CU traits. Participants completed a multi-method battery of well-validated measures of risky decision making and associated constructs of selective attention and future orientation (Stroop, Stoplight, and Delay-Discounting Tasks). Findings indicated that impaired decision making, selective attention, and future orientation contribute to the antisocial presentations displayed by children with CD, irrespective of level of CU traits. Youth high on CU traits without CD showed less risky decision making, as indicated by their performance on the Stoplight laboratory task, than those high on both CD and CU traits, suggesting a potential protective factor against the development of antisocial behavior.

Polymorphisms in the oxytocin receptor gene are associated with the development of psychopathy.

PubMed

Dadds, Mark R; Moul, Caroline; Cauchi, Avril; Dobson-Stone, Carol; Hawes, David J; Brennan, John; Urwin, Ruth; Ebstein, Richard E

2014-02-01

The co-occurrence of child conduct problems (CPs) and callous-unemotional (CU) traits confers risk for psychopathy. The oxytocin (OXT) system is a likely candidate for involvement in the development of psychopathy. We tested variations in the OXT receptor gene (OXTR) in CP children and adolescents with varying levels of CU traits. Two samples of Caucasian children, aged 4-16 years, who met DSM criteria for disruptive behavior problems and had no features of autism spectrum disorder, were stratified into low versus high CU traits. Measures were the frequencies of nine candidate OXTR polymorphisms (single nucleotide polymorphisms). In Sample 1, high CU traits were associated with single nucleotide polymorphism rs1042778 in the 3' untranslated region of OXTR and the CGCT haplotype of rs2268490, rs2254298, rs237889, and rs13316193. The association of rs1042778 was replicated in the second rural sample and held across gender and child versus adolescent age groups. We conclude that polymorphic variation of the OXTR characterizes children with high levels of CU traits and CPs. The results are consistent with a hypothesized role of OXT in the developmental antecedents of psychopathy, particularly the differential amygdala activation model of psychopathic traits, and add genetic evidence that high CU traits specify a distinct subgroup within CP children.

Associations between callous-unemotional traits and various types of involvement in school bullying among adolescents in Taiwan.

PubMed

Wang, Peng-Wei; Hsiao, Ray C; Chen, Li Ming; Sung, Yu-Hsien; Hu, Huei-Fan; Yen, Cheng-Fang

2018-01-15

This study examined associations between callous-unemotional (CU) traits and involvement in school bullying among 613 Taiwanese adolescents. CU traits were determined using the self-reported Chinese versions of the Inventory of Callous and Unemotional Traits (C-ICUT) and the School Bullying Experience Questionnaire (C-SBEQ). The study used logistic regression analysis to assess associations between CU traits and types of involvement in school bullying, with controls for the effect of age, sex, and residential background. Higher levels of the callous trait were positively associated with greater risk of being a victim of physical bullying and belongings snatch, or a perpetrator of verbal, relational and physical bullying and belongings snatch. Higher levels of the unemotional trait were positively associated with greater risk of being a victim of verbal and relational bullying. The uncaring trait had no significant associations with any type of bullying involvement. The role played by CU traits should, therefore, be examined when developing programs to detect and prevent school bullying. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Callous-Unemotional (CU) Traits in Adolescent Boys and Response to Teacher Reward and Discipline Strategies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Allen, Jennifer L.; Morris, Amy; Chhoa, Celine Y.

2016-01-01

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between callous-unemotional (CU) traits and response to rewards and discipline in adolescent boys using a mixed-methods approach. Participants comprised 39 boys aged between 12 and 13 years and 8 teachers. Quantitative findings showed that CU traits were significantly related to punishment…

Child maltreatment, callous-unemotional traits, and defensive responding in high-risk children: An investigation of emotion-modulated startle response.

PubMed

Dackis, Melissa N; Rogosch, Fred A; Cicchetti, Dante

2015-11-01

Child maltreatment is associated with disruptions in physiological arousal, emotion regulation, and defensive responses to cues of threat and distress, as well as increased risk for callous unemotional (CU) traits and externalizing behavior. Developmental models of CU traits have focused on biological and genetic risk factors that contribute to hypoarousal and antisocial behavior, but have focused less on environmental influences (Blair, 2004; Daversa, 2010; Hare, Frazell, & Cox, 1978; Krueger, 2000; Shirtcliff et al., 2009; Viding, Fontaine, & McCrory, 2012). The aim of the present investigation was to measure the independent and combined effects of child maltreatment and high CU traits on emotion-modulated startle response in children. Participants consisted of 132 low-income maltreated (n = 60) and nonmaltreated (n = 72) children between 8 and 12 years old who attended a summer camp program. Acoustic startle response (ASR) was elicited in response to a 110-dB 50-ms probe while children viewed a slideshow of pleasant, neutral, and unpleasant IAPS images. Maltreatment status was assessed through examination of Department of Human Services records. CU traits were measured using counselor reports from the Inventory of Callous and Unemotional Traits (Frick, 2004), and conduct problems were measured using counselor and child self-report. We found no significant differences in emotion-modulated startle in the overall sample. However, significant differences in ASR by maltreatment status, maltreatment subtype, and level of CU traits were apparent. Results indicated differential physiological responses for maltreated and nonmaltreated children based on CU traits, including a pathway of hypoarousal for nonmaltreated/high CU children that differed markedly from a more normative physiological trajectory for maltreated/high CU children. Further, we found heightened ASR for emotionally and physically neglected children with high CU and elevated antisocial behavior in these children. Results provide further support for differential trajectories by which experience and biology may influence the development of antisocial behavior in youth and highlight potential avenues for intervention.

Child Maltreatment, Callous-Unemotional Traits, and Defensive Responding In High-Risk Children: An Investigation of Emotion-Modulated Startle Response

PubMed Central

Dackis, Melissa N.; Rogosch, Fred A.; Cicchetti, Dante

2015-01-01

Child maltreatment is associated with disruptions in physiological arousal, emotion regulation, and defensive responses to cues of threat and distress, as well as increased risk for callous unemotional (CU) traits and externalizing behavior. Developmental models of callous unemotional (CU) traits have focused on biological and genetic risk factors that contribute to hypoarousal and antisocial behavior, but have focused less on environmental influences (Blair, 2004; Daversa, 2010; Hare, Frazell, & Cox, 1978; Krueger, 2000; Shirtcliff et al., 2009; Viding, Fontaine, & McCrory, 2012). The aim of the present investigation was to measure the independent and combined effects of child maltreatment and high CU trait on emotion-modulated startle (EMS) response in children. Participants consisted of 132 low-income maltreated (n = 60) and nonmaltreated (n = 72) children between 8–12 years old who attended a summer camp program. Acoustic startle response (ASR) was elicited in response to a 110-dB 50-ms probe while children viewed a slideshow of pleasant, neutral, and unpleasant IAPS images. Maltreatment status was assessed through examination of Department of Human Services records. CU traits were measured using counselor reports from the Inventory of Callous and Unemotional Traits (ICU; Frick, 2004), and conduct problems were measured using counselor and child self-report. We found no significant differences in emotion-modulated startle in the overall sample. However, significant differences in ASR by maltreatment status, maltreatment subtype, and level of CU traits were apparent. Results indicated differential physiological responses for maltreated and nonmaltreated children based on CU traits, including a pathway of hypoarousal for nonmaltreated/high CU children that differed markedly from a more normative physiological trajectory for maltreated/high CU children. Further, we found heightened ASR for emotionally and physically neglected children with high CU and elevated antisocial behavior in these children. Results provide further support for differential trajectories by which experience and biology may influence the development of antisocial behavior in youth and highlight potential avenues for intervention. PMID:26535942

Which dimension of parenting predicts the change of callous unemotional traits in children with disruptive behavior disorder?

PubMed

Muratori, Pietro; Lochman, John E; Lai, Elisa; Milone, Annarita; Nocentini, Annalaura; Pisano, Simone; Righini, Elisabetta; Masi, Gabriele

2016-08-01

Several studies suggested that in addition to child-driven factors (i.e., temperamental style), parenting behavior can, at least in part, influence the maintenance of Callous Unemotional (CU) traits in children; however, more information is needed to distinguish which styles (negative parenting or lack of positive parenting) predict increased levels of CU traits. The aim of the present treatment study was to examine which components of parenting are longitudinally associated with levels of CU traits in children with a disruptive behavior disorder diagnosis. The current study examined cross-lagged reciprocal effects models between positive and negative parenting practices, and the levels of child CU traits over three time points, including both positive and negative dimensions of parenting in the same model. Participants were 126 Italian children with diagnosis of disruptive behavior disorder (oppositional defiant disorder or conduct disorder), 113 boys and 13 girls, 110 Caucasian, 48 with conduct disorder, and 78 with oppositional defiant disorder, treated with a multi-component intervention, based on cognitive behavioral principles and practices. Participants were all 9-10 years of age at the beginning of the study, and were followed-up until the age of 11-12 years (24 months in total, the first 12 under treatment) using parent report (Alabama Parenting Questionnaire and Child Behavior Check List) and child report (Inventory of Callous-Unemotional Traits) measures. No significant cross-lagged path was found between negative parenting and CU traits; these two variables were also unrelated when positive parenting was considered in the same model. In contrast, reciprocal effects between positive parenting and CU were found: higher levels of positive parenting predicted lower levels of CU traits. The current findings suggest that the positive dimension of parenting may need to be targeted in the treatment of DBD children with higher CU traits. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Expression and Regulation of Attachment-Related Emotions in Children with Conduct Problems and Callous-Unemotional Traits.

PubMed

Dadds, Mark R; Gale, Nyree; Godbee, Megan; Moul, Caroline; Pasalich, Dave S; Fink, Elian; Hawes, David J

2016-08-01

Callous-unemotional traits (CU) are defined by low responsiveness to, and unfeeling disregard for the emotions of others. There is controversial evidence, however, that children with high CU traits can demonstrate affective responsiveness under certain conditions, namely those associated with attachment threat. We tested this using 'fear + amusing' and 'attachment rich' stimuli from the Lion King film. Of N = 76, 4-14 years old children, 56 were clinic-referred children divided into high and low CU traits groups, and 20 children were drawn from the community. Participants watched film sequences of fearful, attachment-related and neutral stimuli and their affective responses and emotion-regulation strategies were coded by independent observers. Children in the high CU traits group were able to disengage from the fear stimuli by showing more 'happiness' to a brief slapstick interlude. In the attachment scenario, high CU children expressed similar or trends toward higher emotional responses and emotion regulation strategies, compared to low-CU children and control children. The results support the idea that high CU children may have the potential for emotional responsiveness to complex emotional stimuli in attachment contexts. Implications of these results for the development of interventions are discussed.

Emotional Intelligence and Callous-Unemotional Traits in Incarcerated Adolescents.

PubMed

Kahn, Rachel E; Ermer, Elsa; Salovey, Peter; Kiehl, Kent A

2016-12-01

Emotional intelligence (EI) is the ability to perceive, manage, and reason about emotions and to use this information to guide thinking and behavior adaptively. Youth with callous-unemotional (CU) traits demonstrate a variety of affective deficits, including impairment in recognition of emotion and reduced emotional responsiveness to distress or pain in others. We examined the association between ability EI and CU traits in a sample of incarcerated adolescents (n = 141) using an expert-rater device (Psychopathy Checklist Youth Version (PCL-YV; Manual for the Hare psychopathy checklist: Youth version. Multi-Health Systems, Toronto, 2003) and self-report assessments of CU traits. EI was assessed using the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test-Youth Version, Research Version (MSCEIT-YV-R; MSCEIT YV: Mayer-Salovey-Caruso emotional intelligence test: Youth version, research version 1.0. Multi-Health Systems, Toronto, Ontario, 2005). Similar to findings in adult forensic populations, high levels of CU traits in incarcerated adolescents were associated with lower EI, particularly higher order EI skills. Identifying impairment on EI abilities may have important implications for emerging treatment and intervention developments for youth with high levels of CU traits.

The roles of trauma exposure, rejection sensitivity, and callous-unemotional traits in the aggressive behavior of justice-involved youth: A moderated mediation model.

PubMed

Mozley, Michaela M; Modrowski, Crosby A; Kerig, Patricia K

2018-05-01

Research has demonstrated an association between childhood trauma exposure and adolescent aggression. This association may be explained by rejection sensitivity, defined as anger, or anxiety in the anticipation of rejection, which can be a consequence of trauma exposure. Callous-unemotional (CU) traits also are associated with trauma exposure and aggressive behavior; however, research has not yet investigated the interactive roles that rejection sensitivity and CU traits play in the relation between trauma exposure and aggression. Therefore, this study sought to investigate the role of rejection sensitivity in the association between trauma exposure and aggression, and whether this indirect effect was moderated by CU traits. Participants included 380 detained youth (98 girls, 282 boys) who completed self-report measures of trauma exposure, angry, and anxious rejection sensitivity, CU traits, and aggression. Results of moderated mediation demonstrated that the relation between trauma exposure and aggression exhibited an indirect effect through angry rejection sensitivity, but only at moderate or high levels of CU traits. This pattern was not found for anxious rejection sensitivity. Results suggest that interventions aimed to decrease aggressive behavior in traumatized adolescents may benefit from considering how youth respond to rejection, as well as whether youth endorse CU traits, as this may help to limit further involvement in the juvenile justice system after release. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Taxometric analyses and predictive accuracy of callous-unemotional traits regarding quality of life and behavior problems in non-conduct disorder diagnoses.

PubMed

Herpers, Pierre C M; Klip, Helen; Rommelse, Nanda N J; Taylor, Mark J; Greven, Corina U; Buitelaar, Jan K

2017-07-01

Callous-unemotional (CU) traits have mainly been studied in relation to conduct disorder (CD), but can also occur in other disorder groups. However, it is unclear whether there is a clinically relevant cut-off value of levels of CU traits in predicting reduced quality of life (QoL) and clinical symptoms, and whether CU traits better fit a categorical (taxonic) or dimensional model. Parents of 979 youths referred to a child and adolescent psychiatric clinic rated their child's CU traits on the Inventory of Callous-Unemotional traits (ICU), QoL on the Kidscreen-27, and clinical symptoms on the Child Behavior Checklist. Experienced clinicians conferred DSM-IV-TR diagnoses of ADHD, ASD, anxiety/mood disorders and DBD-NOS/ODD. The ICU was also used to score the DSM-5 specifier 'with limited prosocial emotions' (LPE) of Conduct Disorder. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyses revealed that the predictive accuracy of the ICU and LPE regarding QoL and clinical symptoms was poor to fair, and similar across diagnoses. A clinical cut-off point could not be defined. Taxometric analyses suggested that callous-unemotional traits on the ICU best reflect a dimension rather than taxon. More research is needed on the impact of CU traits on the functional adaptation, course, and response to treatment of non-CD conditions. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Are Youth Psychopathic Traits Related to Bullying? Meta-analyses on Callous-Unemotional Traits, Narcissism, and Impulsivity.

PubMed

van Geel, Mitch; Toprak, Fatih; Goemans, Anouk; Zwaanswijk, Wendy; Vedder, Paul

2017-10-01

In the current manuscript meta-analyses are performed to analyze the relations between three aspects of psychopathy in youth, Callous-Unemotional (CU) traits, Narcissism, and Impulsivity, and bullying behaviors. The databases PsycINFO, MEDLINE, ERIC, Web of Science and Proquest were searched for relevant articles on bullying and CU traits, Narcissism, or Impulsivity in youth under 20 years of age. Two authors each independently screened 842 studies that were found in the literature search. Two authors independently coded ten studies on bullying and CU (N = 4115) traits, six studies on bullying and Narcissism (N = 3376) and 14 studies on bullying and Impulsivity (N = 33,574) that met the inclusion criteria. Significant correlations were found between bullying and CU traits, Narcissism, and Impulsivity. These results were not affected by publication bias. Anti-bullying interventions could potentially benefit from including elements that have been found effective in the treatment of youth psychopathy.

Evidence for deficits in reward responsivity in antisocial youth with callous-unemotional traits.

PubMed

Marini, Victoria A; Stickle, Timothy R

2010-10-01

This study investigated reward responsivity in youth with high levels of callous-unemotional (CU) traits using a cross-sectional design. Whereas deficits in responding to punishment cues are well established in youth with CU traits, it is unclear whether responsivity to rewarding stimuli is impaired as well. Participants were 148 predominantly Caucasian, adjudicated adolescents between the ages of 11 and 17 (M = 15.1, SD = 1.4) who completed the Balloon Analogue Risk Task as part of a larger battery investigating aggression and social information processing. A Reward Responsivity variable was created to capture changes in participants' responding after receiving a reward. A hierarchical regression analysis indicated that higher levels of CU traits significantly predicted less reward responsivity, above and beyond gender, sensation seeking, and impulsivity. Results support Blair's (2004) Integrated Emotion Systems model that proposes individuals with CU traits are impaired in their responsivity to both appetitive and aversive stimuli.

The Contribution of Callous-Unemotional Traits and Conduct Problems to Bullying in Early Adolescence

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Viding, Essi; Simmonds, Elizabeth; Petrides, K. V.; Frederickson, Norah

2009-01-01

Background: Although a lot is known about the association of conduct problems with bullying, less attention has been paid to co-occurring traits, such as callous-unemotional (CU) traits that might additionally contribute to the risk of engaging in bullying. This study investigated the contribution of CU traits to direct and indirect bullying,…

Attachment and Callous-Unemotional Traits in Children with Early-Onset Conduct Problems

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pasalich, Dave S.; Dadds, Mark R.; Hawes, David J.; Brennan, John

2012-01-01

Background: Antisocial children with callous-unemotional (CU) traits appear to be disconnected from other people's emotions; although little is known about their experience of the parent-child emotional bond. This study examined parent-child attachment relationships and levels of CU traits in conduct-problem children. Method: Attachment…

Heritability of antisocial behaviour at 9: do callous-unemotional traits matter?

PubMed

Viding, Essi; Jones, Alice P; Frick, Paul J; Moffitt, Terrie E; Plomin, Robert

2008-01-01

A previous finding from our group indicated that teacher-rated antisocial behaviour (AB) among 7-year-olds is particularly heritable in the presence of callous-unemotional (CU) traits. Using a sample of 1865 same-sex twin pairs, we employed DeFries-Fulker extremes analysis to investigate whether teacher-rated AB with/without CU traits also shows aetiological differences among 9-year-olds. Furthermore, we assessed whether the differences in the magnitude of heritability would be evident even when hyperactive symptoms were controlled for in the statistical analysis. AB among 9-year-olds was more heritable with than without concomitant CU. The heritability difference was even more pronounced in magnitude when hyperactive symptoms were controlled. CU traits thus appear to index one valid way of sub-typing children with early-onset AB.

Can the Fear Recognition Deficits Associated with Callous-Unemotional Traits be Identified in Early Childhood?

PubMed Central

Briggs-Gowan, Margaret J.; Voss, Joel L.; Petitclerc, Amelie; McCarthy, Kimberly; Blair, R. James R.; Wakschlag, Lauren S.

2016-01-01

Introduction Callous-unemotional (CU) traits in the presence of conduct problems are associated with increased risk of severe antisocial behavior. Developmentally sensitive methods of assessing CU traits have recently been generated, but their construct validity in relation to neurocognitive underpinnings of CU has not been demonstrated. The current study sought to investigate whether the fear-specific emotion recognition deficits associated with CU traits in older individuals are developmentally expressed in young children as low concern for others and punishment insensitivity. Methods A sub-sample of 337 preschoolers (mean age 4.8 years [SD=.8]) who completed neurocognitive tasks was taken from a larger project of preschool psychopathology. Children completed an emotional recognition task in which they were asked to identify the emotional face from the neutral faces in an array. CU traits were assessed using the Low Concern (LC) and Punishment Insensitivity (PI) subscales of the Multidimensional Assessment Profile of Disruptive Behavior (MAP-DB), which were specifically designed to differentiate the normative misbehavior of early childhood from atypical patterns. Results High LC, but not PI, scores were associated with a fear-specific deficit in emotion recognition. Girls were more accurate than boys in identifying emotional expressions but no significant interaction between LC or PI and sex was observed. Conclusions Fear recognition deficits associated with CU traits in older individuals were observed in preschoolers with developmentally-defined patterns of low concern for others. Confirming that the link between CU-related impairments in empathy and distinct neurocognitive deficits is present in very young children suggests that developmentally-specified measurement can detect the substrates of these severe behavioral patterns beginning much earlier than prior work. Exploring the development of CU traits and disruptive behavior disorders at very early ages may provide insights critical to early intervention and prevention of severe antisocial behavior. PMID:27167866

Exploring Empathy and Callous-Unemotional Traits as Predictors of Animal Abuse Perpetrated by Children Exposed to Intimate Partner Violence.

PubMed

Hartman, Christie; Hageman, Tina; Williams, James Herbert; Mary, Jason St; Ascione, Frank R

2016-07-01

We explored the relation between empathy, callous-unemotional (CU) traits, and animal abuse in a sample of 290 seven- to twelve-year-old children whose mothers were exposed to intimate partner violence (IPV). The sample comprises mostly Latino and White participants, and 55% of the children's mothers were born outside the United States (primarily Mexico). To our knowledge, among studies examining child-perpetrated animal abuse, this study is the first to examine empathy levels and one of only a few to examine CU traits. When comparing Griffith Empathy Measure (empathy) and Inventory of Callous-Unemotional Traits (callous-unemotional [CU] traits) scores with those from studies of White schoolchildren, our sample scored lower on affective empathy, higher on cognitive empathy, and lower for overall CU scores as well as Callous and Unemotional subscales. Of 290 children, 47 (16.2%) harmed an animal at least once according to either mother or child report. There were no significant sex or age differences between Abuse and No Abuse groups. The Abuse group scored significantly higher on affective empathy, CU, and Callousness/Unemotional subscales, and significantly lower on cognitive empathy. However, in regression analyses that controlled for income, only lower cognitive empathy and higher CU significantly predicted having abused an animal. In summary, low cognitive empathy (but not affective empathy) and CU traits may serve as reliable predictors of child animal abuse. However, replication of these results is necessary. A larger sample with a high percentage of Latino children whose mothers were exposed to IPV, along with a non-exposed comparison group, would be ideal.

Facial reactions to violent and comedy films: Association with callous-unemotional traits and impulsive aggression.

PubMed

Fanti, Kostas A; Kyranides, Melina Nicole; Panayiotou, Georgia

2017-02-01

The current study adds to prior research by investigating specific (happiness, sadness, surprise, disgust, anger and fear) and general (corrugator and zygomatic muscle activity) facial reactions to violent and comedy films among individuals with varying levels of callous-unemotional (CU) traits and impulsive aggression (IA). Participants at differential risk of CU traits and IA were selected from a sample of 1225 young adults. In Experiment 1, participants (N = 82) facial expressions were recorded while they watched violent and comedy films. Video footage of participants' facial expressions was analysed using FaceReader, a facial coding software that classifies facial reactions. Findings suggested that individuals with elevated CU traits showed reduced facial reactions of sadness and disgust to violent films, indicating low empathic concern in response to victims' distress. In contrast, impulsive aggressors produced specifically more angry facial expressions when viewing violent and comedy films. In Experiment 2 (N = 86), facial reactions were measured by monitoring facial electromyography activity. FaceReader findings were verified by the reduced facial electromyography at the corrugator, but not the zygomatic, muscle in response to violent films shown by individuals high in CU traits. Additional analysis suggested that sympathy to victims explained the association between CU traits and reduced facial reactions to violent films.

Callous-Unemotional Traits, Harm-Effect Moral Reasoning, and Bullying among Swedish Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thornberg, Robert; Jungert, Tomas

2017-01-01

Background: Although callous-unemotional (CU) traits have been associated with bullying among children and adolescents, relatively little is known about whether each of the three sub-constructs of CU traits--callous, uncaring, and unemotional--are associated with bullying when they are considered concurrently in the analysis. Objective: This study…

Heartless and cunning? Intelligence in adolescents with antisocial behavior and psychopathic traits.

PubMed

Allen, Jennifer L; Briskman, Jacqueline; Humayun, Sajid; Dadds, Mark R; Scott, Stephen

2013-12-30

Clinical theory predicts that individuals high in psychopathic traits possess average or above average intelligence; however findings in adult and child samples have been mixed. The present study aimed to investigate (1) the relationship between verbal and nonverbal intelligence and the three dimensions of psychopathy (callous-unemotional (CU) traits, narcissism, impulsivity); and (2) whether these dimensions moderate the association between verbal and nonverbal intelligence and the severity of antisocial behavior. Participants were 361 adolescents aged 9-18 years (68% boys) and their parents, drawn from four samples with different levels of risk for antisocial behavior. Families were disadvantaged and 25% were from an ethnic minority. Verbal intelligence was unrelated to parent-reported CU traits, narcissism or impulsivity after controlling for gender, sociodemographic disadvantage, sample, antisocial behavior and hyperactivity. Narcissism, but not CU traits or impulsivity, was significantly related to lower nonverbal IQ. None of the three psychopathic trait dimensions moderated the relationship between verbal or nonverbal IQ and antisocial behavior. CU traits, narcissism, hyperactivity and inclusion in the very high or high risk samples were significantly related to more severe antisocial behavior. Results contradict the widely held view that psychopathic traits are associated with better than average verbal or nonverbal intelligence. Crown Copyright © 2013 Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Heritability of Antisocial Behaviour at 9: Do Callous-Unemotional Traits Matter?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Viding, Essi; Jones, Alice P.; Paul, J. Frick; Moffitt, Terrie E.; Plomin, Robert

2008-01-01

A previous finding from our group indicated that teacher-rated antisocial behaviour (AB) among 7-year-olds is particularly heritable in the presence of callous-unemotional (CU) traits. Using a sample of 1865 same-sex twin pairs, we employed DeFries-Fulker extremes analysis to investigate whether teacher-rated AB with/without CU traits also shows…

Do Childhood Callous-Unemotional Traits Drive Change in Parenting Practices?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hawes, David J.; Dadds, Mark R.; Frost, Aaron D. J.; Hasking, Penelope A.

2011-01-01

This study examined the relationship between callous-unemotional (CU) traits and parenting practices over time in a mixed-sex community cohort (N = 1,008; 52.6% boys), aged 3 to 10 years (M = 6.5, SD = 1.3). Measures of CU traits, externalizing psychopathology, parenting practices, and socioeconomic risk factors were collected at baseline, and…

The Role of Callous and Unemotional Traits in the Diagnosis of Conduct Disorder

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rowe, Richard; Maughan, Barbara; Moran, Paul; Ford, Tamsin; Briskman, Jackie; Goodman, Robert

2010-01-01

Background: Callous and unemotional (CU) traits might usefully subtype DSM-IV conduct disorder (CD). We investigate this hypothesis in a large, nationally representative sample of 5-16-year-olds. We also examine the characteristics of children with high CU traits but without CD. Methods: Data come from the 2004 British Child and Adolescent Mental…

Serotonin 1B Receptor Gene (HTR1B) Methylation as a Risk Factor for Callous-Unemotional Traits in Antisocial Boys.

PubMed

Moul, Caroline; Dobson-Stone, Carol; Brennan, John; Hawes, David J; Dadds, Mark R

2015-01-01

The serotonin system is thought to play a role in the aetiology of callous-unemotional (CU) traits in children. Previous research identified a functional single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) from the promoter region of the serotonin 1B receptor gene as being associated with CU traits in boys with antisocial behaviour problems. This research tested the hypothesis that CU traits are associated with reduced methylation of the promoter region of the serotonin 1B receptor gene due to the influence of methylation on gene expression. Participants (N = 117) were boys with antisocial behaviour problems aged 3-16 years referred to University of New South Wales Child Behaviour Research Clinics. Participants volunteered a saliva sample from which the genotype of a SNP from the promoter region of the serotonin 1B receptor gene and the methylation levels of 30 CpG sites from 3 CpG regions surrounding the location of this polymorphism were assayed. Lower levels of serotonin 1B receptor gene methylation were associated with higher levels of CU traits. This relationship, however, was found to be moderated by genotype and carried exclusively by two CpG sites for which levels of methylation were negatively associated with overall methylation levels in this region of the gene. Results provide support to the emerging literature that argues for a genetically-driven system-wide alteration in serotonin function in the aetiology of CU traits. Furthermore, the results suggest that there may be two pathways to CU traits that involve methylation of the serotonin 1B receptor gene; one that is driven by a genotypic risk and another that is associated with risk for generally increased levels of methylation. Future research that aims to replicate and further investigate these results is required.

Salivary oxytocin in adolescents with conduct problems and callous-unemotional traits.

PubMed

Levy, Tomer; Bloch, Yuval; Bar-Maisels, Meytal; Gat-Yablonski, Galia; Djalovski, Amir; Borodkin, Katy; Apter, Alan

2015-12-01

Callous-unemotional (CU) traits correlate with the severity and prognosis of conduct disorder in youth. The neuropeptide oxytocin (OT) has been linked to prosocial behaviors, including empathy and collaboration with others. This study discusses a possible role for OT in the biology of delinquent behavior. We hypothesized that in delinquent youth OT secretion will correlate with the severity of conduct problems and specifically with the level of CU traits. The study group included 67 male adolescents (mean age 16.2 years) undergoing residential treatment, previously assessed by an open clinical interview and history for the psychiatric diagnosis. Staff based Inventory of Callous-Unemotional traits for psychopathy and Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire were administered, and patients' medical and social personal files were systematically coded for previous history of antisocial acts using the Brown-Goodwin Questionnaire. Salivary OT was assayed by ELISA. Salivary OT levels were inversely correlated with conduct problems severity on Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (r = -0.27; p ≤ 0.01). Recorded history of antisocial acts did not correlate with current OT levels. Odds ratio (OR) for significant CU traits among subjects with conduct problems was increased in low-OT (OR = 14, p ≤ 0.05) but not in high-OT subjects (OR = 6, p ≥ 0.05). Children with conduct problems and low levels of salivary OT are at risk for significant CU traits. These results suggest a possible role for salivary OT as a biomarker for CU traits and conduct problems severity.

Do Callous-Unemotional Traits Moderate the Relative Importance of Parental Coercion versus Warmth in Child Conduct Problems? An Observational Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pasalich, Dave S.; Dadds, Mark R.; Hawes, David J.; Brennan, John

2011-01-01

Background: Research suggests that parenting has little influence on the development of antisocial behavior in children with callous-unemotional (CU) traits. We aimed to extend and improve on prior studies examining the moderating role of CU traits on associations between parenting and conduct problems, by using independent observations of two key…

Looming Threats and Animacy: Reduced Responsiveness in Youth with Disrupted Behavior Disorders.

PubMed

White, Stuart F; Thornton, Laura C; Leshin, Joseph; Clanton, Roberta; Sinclair, Stephen; Coker-Appiah, Dionne; Meffert, Harma; Hwang, Soonjo; Blair, James R

2018-05-01

Theoretical models have implicated amygdala dysfunction in the development of Disruptive Behavior Disorders (DBDs; Conduct Disorder/Oppositional Defiant Disorder). Amygdala dysfunction impacts valence evaluation/response selection and emotion attention in youth with DBDs, particularly in those with elevated callous-unemotional (CU) traits. However, amygdala responsiveness during social cognition and the responsiveness of the acute threat circuitry (amygdala/periaqueductal gray) in youth with DBDs have been less well-examined, particularly with reference to CU traits. 31 youth with DBDs and 27 typically developing youth (IQ, age and gender-matched) completed a threat paradigm during fMRI where animate and inanimate, threatening and neutral stimuli appeared to loom towards or recede from participants. Reduced responsiveness to threat variables, including visual threats and encroaching stimuli, was observed within acute threat circuitry and temporal, lateral frontal and parietal cortices in youth with DBDs. This reduced responsiveness, at least with respect to the looming variable, was modulated by CU traits. Reduced responsiveness to animacy information was also observed within temporal, lateral frontal and parietal cortices, but not within amygdala. Reduced responsiveness to animacy information as a function of CU traits was observed in PCC, though not within the amygdala. Reduced threat responsiveness may contribute to risk taking and impulsivity in youth with DBDs, particularly those with high levels of CU traits. Future work will need to examine the degree to which this reduced response to animacy is independent of amygdala dysfunction in youth with DBDs and what role PCC might play in the dysfunctional social cognition observed in youth with high levels of CU traits.

The Reciprocal Influence of Callous-Unemotional Traits, Oppositional Defiant Disorder and Parenting Practices in Preschoolers.

PubMed

Brown, Caitlin A; Granero, Roser; Ezpeleta, Lourdes

2017-04-01

The present study investigates reciprocal associations between positive parenting, parental monitoring, CU traits, and ODD in children assessed at age 3 and again at age 6. Data were collected from a sample of preschoolers (N = 419; 51.58 % female) through diagnostic interviews and questionnaires answered by parents and teachers. Structural equation modeling revealed a bidirectional relationship between poor monitoring and ODD, with poor monitoring at age 3 predicting ODD at age 6 (β = 0.11, p < 0.05), and ODD at age 3 predicting poor monitoring at age 6 (β = 0.10, p < 0.05). While poor monitoring at age 3 predicted CU traits at age 6 (β = 0.11, p < 0.05), CU traits at age 3 predicted positive parenting (β = 0.09, p < 0.05) and ODD (β = 0.13, p < 0.05) at age 6. Results have important implications for early targeted parenting interventions for CU traits and ODD.

Examination of the importance of age of onset, callous-unemotional traits and anger dysregulation in youths with antisocial behaviors.

PubMed

Urben, Sébastien; Stéphan, Philippe; Habersaat, Stéphanie; Francescotti, Eric; Fegert, Jörg M; Schmeck, Klaus; Perler, Christian; Gasser, Jacques; Schmid, Marc

2017-01-01

Age of onset, callous-unemotional (CU) traits and anger dysregulation have separately been proposed as relevant factors in explaining the heterogeneity of antisocial behaviour (ASB). Taking a dimensional perspective, this study examined the specific contributions and the mutual influences (i.e., interactions) of these three characteristics on specific dimensions of ASB (i.e., criminal behaviours and externalizing symptoms). Assessments were conducted on 536 youths from institutions with the youth psychopathic traits inventory (CU traits), the Massachusetts youth screening instrument-second version (anger dysregulation), the criminology questionnaire (criminal behaviours) and the child behavior checklist (externalizing symptoms), rated by both the youths and their carers. Using Bayes as estimators, the results revealed that the number and frequency of crimes (and, more specifically, damage to property, property offenses and media crimes) were explained by a specific contribution of each factor (age of onset, CU traits and anger dysregulation). Additionally, the interactions between age of onset and CU traits or anger dysregulation were relevant predictors of some types of crimes (i.e., damage to property, property offences and media crimes). Furthermore, when rated by youths, externalizing symptoms were explained by CU traits and anger dysregulation. However, when rated by the carer, anger dysregulation was more important in explaining externalizing symptoms. This study highlights the importance of considering these factors altogether and the value of using a dimensional perspective when examining the structure of ASB in youths. Consequently, future classifications should take into account the mutual account of these characteristics, which were previously studied separately.

Callous-Unemotional Traits Predict Self-Reported Offending in Adolescent Boys: The Mediating Role of Delinquent Peers and the Moderating Role of Parenting Practices

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ray, James V.; Frick, Paul J.; Thornton, Laura C.; Wall Myers, Tina D.; Steinberg, Laurence; Cauffman, Elizabeth

2017-01-01

Research has only recently begun to examine how callous-unemotional (CU) traits interact with contextual factors to predict delinquent behavior. The current study attempts to explain the well-established link between CU traits and offending by testing the potential mediating and moderating roles of 2 critical contextual factors: peer delinquency…

The moderating role of child callous-unemotional traits in an Internet-based parent-management training program.

PubMed

Högström, Jens; Enebrink, Pia; Ghaderi, Ata

2013-04-01

Although parent management training (PMT) is generally considered the treatment of choice for children with conduct problems, some specific adaptations might be essential for various subgroups of parents or children to benefit well from PMT. The aim of this study was to examine the influence of child callous-unemotional (CU) traits on the outcome of an Internet-based PMT program for parents of children with conduct problems (n = 57; mean age 6.65). Within a randomized controlled trial of PMT, children assigned to the intervention group were categorized and compared as either "high-CU" (n = 8) or "low-CU" (n = 49) based on a cut-off score on the CU subscale of the Antisocial Process Screening Device (APSD; Frick & Hare, 2001). CU traits in children were associated with more severe conduct problems at baseline, as well as more hyperactivity and peer-related problems. Treatment outcome, in terms of conduct-problem reduction, was poor in the high-CU group compared with the low-CU group, despite the fact that parents in both groups improved equally in parenting skills. The same pattern of results emerged after controlling for initial difficulties of conduct problems and other pretreatment differences between the groups. Elevated levels of CU traits in children seem to contribute to an inferior treatment response in PMT. These findings call for more attention on empathy and emotional patterns in the assessment of children with conduct problems. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved).

Factors differentiating callous-unemotional children with and without conduct problems.

PubMed

Wall, Tina D; Frick, Paul J; Fanti, Kostas A; Kimonis, Eva R; Lordos, Alexandros

2016-08-01

Callous-unemotional (CU) traits are a risk factor for a severe, aggressive, and persistent pattern of conduct problems (CP). This study investigated characteristics that might differentiate children with elevated CU traits with and without CP in an effort to identify factors that may reduce the risk for CP in children with limited prosocial emotions. Utilizing a sample of 1,366 children from Cyprus, five groups were identified for further study based on latent profile analysis: low-risk (67.2%), high-CP/low-CU (7.9%), high-CU (9.4%), moderate-CP/CU (8.4%), and high-CP/CU (7.2%). The identified groups were compared on behavioral and social measures. There were significant main effects of group for: impulsivity and executive functioning; parenting; and connectedness to school. The high-CU group had significantly lower hyperactivity-impulsivity and executive functioning deficits, significantly higher self-regulation, and their mothers reported more maternal involvement and positive parenting than those in the high-CP/CU group. Also, the high-CU group showed more school connectedness than those in the high-CP/CU group. These findings highlight several factors in the child and in his or her social environment that are associated with CU traits in the absence of serious CP and that may suggest targets for intervention for youth who may lack prosocial emotions. © 2016 Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.

Extending the construct of psychopathy to youth: implications for understanding, diagnosing, and treating antisocial children and adolescents.

PubMed

Frick, Paul J

2009-12-01

This paper reviews several attempts to extend the construct of psychopathy to children and adolescents. The research suggests that the presence of callous-unemotional (CU) traits may be particularly important. Specifically, the presence of these traits designates a clinically important subgroup of youth with childhood-onset conduct problems who show a particularly severe, aggressive, and stable pattern of antisocial behaviour. Also, children with CU traits show numerous emotional, cognitive, and personality features that are distinct from other antisocial youth that are similar to features found in adults with psychopathy. The research on CU traits has important implications for understanding the different causal pathways through which children develop severe antisocial and aggressive behaviour, as well as implications for diagnosing and intervening with antisocial youth.

Distilling Heterogeneity among Children with Disruptive Behavior: Associations between Symptom Patterns and Social Functioning.

PubMed

Aitken, Madison; Henry, Shanelle; Andrade, Brendan F

2017-10-16

Children with disruptive behavior (DB) are a heterogeneous group who exhibit several characteristics that may contribute to poor social functioning. The present study identified profiles of reactive aggression, proactive aggression, callous-unemotional (CU) traits, and prosocial behavior in a sample of children with DB. Associations with social functioning (social interaction, social status) were then examined, along with sex differences in profile membership. Parent ratings of 304 clinic-referred children ages 6-12 years with DB were analyzed using latent profile analysis. Five profiles were identified: 1) Moderate prosocial behavior, reactive aggression, and CU, and low proactive aggression (labelled Moderate); 2) Relatively high prosocial behavior and low reactive and proactive aggression and CU traits (Prosocial); 3) High prosocial behavior and reactive aggression, moderate proactive aggression, and low-moderate CU (Reactive-Prosocial); 4) Low prosocial behavior, high CU, high-moderate reactive aggression, and low-moderate proactive aggression (Reactive-CU); and 5) Low prosocial behavior and high reactive and proactive aggression and CU (Aggressive-CU). Profiles characterized by CU traits, reactive aggression, and low prosocial behavior were associated with the most problematic parent-rated social interaction and social status. The results highlight the need to differentiate profiles of psychopathology in children with DB to better address factors most associated with social functioning.

Anatomy of the dorsal default-mode network in conduct disorder: Association with callous-unemotional traits.

PubMed

Sethi, Arjun; Sarkar, Sagari; Dell'Acqua, Flavio; Viding, Essi; Catani, Marco; Murphy, Declan G M; Craig, Michael C

2018-04-01

We recently reported that emotional detachment in adult psychopathy was associated with structural abnormalities in the dorsal 'default-mode' network (DMN). However, it is unclear whether these differences are present in young people at risk of psychopathy. The most widely recognised group at risk for psychopathy are children/adolescents with conduct disorder (CD) and callous-unemotional (CU) traits. We therefore examined the microstructure of the dorsal DMN in 27 CD youths (14-with/13-without CU traits) compared to 16 typically developing controls using DTI tractography. Both CD groups had significantly (p < 0.025) reduced dorsal DMN radial diffusivity compared to controls. In those with diagnostically significant CU traits, exploratory analyses (uncorrected for multiple comparisons) suggested that radial diffusivity was negatively correlated with CU severity (Left: rho = -0.68, p = 0.015). These results suggest that CD youths have microstructural abnormalities in the same network as adults with psychopathy. Further, the association with childhood/adolescent measures of emotional detachment (CU traits) resembles the relationship between emotional detachment and network microstructure in adult psychopaths. However, these changes appear to occur in opposite directions - with increased myelination in adolescent CD but reduced integrity in adult psychopathy. Collectively, these findings suggest that developmental abnormalities in dorsal DMN may play a role in the emergence of psychopathy. Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Predictive validity of callous-unemotional traits measured in early adolescence with respect to multiple antisocial outcomes.

PubMed

McMahon, Robert J; Witkiewitz, Katie; Kotler, Julie S

2010-11-01

This study investigated the predictive validity of youth callous-unemotional (CU) traits, as measured in early adolescence (Grade 7) by the Antisocial Process Screening Device (APSD; Frick & Hare, 2001), in a longitudinal sample (N = 754). Antisocial outcomes, assessed in adolescence and early adulthood, included self-reported general delinquency from 7th grade through 2 years post-high school, self-reported serious crimes through 2 years post-high school, juvenile and adult arrest records through 1 year post-high school, and antisocial personality disorder symptoms and diagnosis at 2 years post-high school. CU traits measured in 7th grade were highly predictive of 5 of the 6 antisocial outcomes-general delinquency, juvenile and adult arrests, and early adult antisocial personality disorder criterion count and diagnosis-over and above prior and concurrent conduct problem behavior (i.e., criterion counts of oppositional defiant disorder and conduct disorder) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (criterion count). Incorporating a CU traits specifier for those with a diagnosis of conduct disorder improved the positive prediction of antisocial outcomes, with a very low false-positive rate. There was minimal evidence of moderation by sex, race, or urban/rural status. Urban/rural status moderated one finding, with being from an urban area associated with stronger relations between CU traits and adult arrests. Findings clearly support the inclusion of CU traits as a specifier for the diagnosis of conduct disorder, at least with respect to predictive validity. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved

Research review: the importance of callous-unemotional traits for developmental models of aggressive and antisocial behavior.

PubMed

Frick, Paul J; White, Stuart F

2008-04-01

The current paper reviews research suggesting that the presence of a callous and unemotional interpersonal style designates an important subgroup of antisocial and aggressive youth. Specifically, callous-unemotional (CU) traits (e.g., lack of guilt, absence of empathy, callous use of others) seem to be relatively stable across childhood and adolescence and they designate a group of youth with a particularly severe, aggressive, and stable pattern of antisocial behavior. Further, antisocial youth with CU traits show a number of distinct emotional, cognitive, and personality characteristics compared to other antisocial youth. These characteristics of youth with CU traits have important implications for causal models of antisocial and aggressive behavior, for methods used to study antisocial youth, and for assessing and treating antisocial and aggressive behavior in children and adolescents.

Alterations of Brain Functional Architecture Associated with Psychopathic Traits in Male Adolescents with Conduct Disorder.

PubMed

Pu, Weidan; Luo, Qiang; Jiang, Yali; Gao, Yidian; Ming, Qingsen; Yao, Shuqiao

2017-09-12

Psychopathic traits of conduct disorder (CD) have a core callous-unemotional (CU) component and an impulsive-antisocial component. Previous task-driven fMRI studies have suggested that psychopathic traits are associated with dysfunction of several brain areas involved in different cognitive functions (e.g., empathy, reward, and response inhibition etc.), but the relationship between psychopathic traits and intrinsic brain functional architecture has not yet been explored in CD. Using a holistic brain-wide functional connectivity analysis, this study delineated the alterations in brain functional networks in patients with conduct disorder. Compared with matched healthy controls, we found decreased anti-synchronization between the fronto-parietal network (FPN) and default mode network (DMN), and increased intra-network synchronization within the frontothalamic-basal ganglia, right frontoparietal, and temporal/limbic/visual networks in CD patients. Correlation analysis showed that the weakened FPN-DMN interaction was associated with CU traits, while the heightened intra-network functional connectivity was related to impulsivity traits in CD patients. Our findings suggest that decoupling of cognitive control (FPN) with social understanding of others (DMN) is associated with the CU traits, and hyper-functions of the reward and motor inhibition systems elevate impulsiveness in CD.

Moral disengagement and callous unemotional traits configurations in adolescents with disruptive behavior disorder: A person-oriented approach.

PubMed

Paciello, Marinella; Masi, Gabriele; Clemente, Maria Grazia; Milone, Annarita; Muratori, Pietro

2017-12-01

The interplay between Callous Unemotional Traits (CU) and Moral Disengagement (MD) was examined in a sample of 90 adolescents with Disruptive Behavior Disorders. Using a person-centered approach, three CU and MD configurations were identified, attesting the strong relationship between these two moral dimensions. However, for some adolescents, CU and MD do not 'move together'. Practical implications are discussed in terms of assessment and intervention. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The cognitive and neural correlates of psychopathy and especially callous-unemotional traits in youths: a systematic review of the evidence.

PubMed

Herpers, Pierre C M; Scheepers, Floor E; Bons, Daniëlle M A; Buitelaar, Jan K; Rommelse, Nanda N J

2014-02-01

It is unclear whether the concepts and findings of the underlying neurobiology of adult psychopathy apply to youths as well. If so, a life span approach to treatment should be taken. Because youths' brains are still developing, interventions at an early age may be far more effective in the long run. The aim of this systematic review is to examine whether the neurocognitive and neurobiological factors that underlie juvenile psychopathy, and specifically callous-unemotional (CU) traits, are similar to those underlying adult psychopathy. The results show that youths with CU traits show lower levels of prosocial reasoning, lower emotional responsivity, and decreased harm avoidance. Brain imaging studies in youths with CU traits are still rare. Available studies suggest specific neural correlates, such as a reduced response of the amygdala and a weaker functional connectivity between the amygdala and the ventromedial prefrontal cortex. These findings are largely in line with existing theories of adult psychopathy, such as the dual-hormone serotonergic hypothesis and the integrated emotions systems theory. We recommend that future studies investigate the role of oxytocin, invest in the study of neural mechanisms, and study the precursors, risk factors, and correlates of CU traits in early infancy and in longitudinal designs.

Callous-Unemotional Traits, Behavior Disorders, and the Student-Teacher Relationship in Elementary School Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Crum, Kathleen I.; Waschbusch, Daniel A.; Willoughby, Michael T.

2016-01-01

Mental health research demonstrates that children with conduct problems (CP) and callous-unemotional (CU) traits differ in important ways from children with CP alone, including differences in primary caregiver attachment quality. This research suggests CU may also influence the quality of attachment between children with CP and their teachers.…

[Appearance of psychopathic tendencies among children and adolescents].

PubMed

Pataky, Nóra; Körmendi, Attila

2010-01-01

There has been a growing body of researches about psychopathic tendencies appearing among children and adolescents. First generation studies differentiated psychopathic constellation from conduct problems in childhood and pointed out that the presence of these traits predict unpleasant therapeutic prognosis and is partly independent from quality of parenting. The factor structure of constellation is similar to the factor structure of adult psychopaths. Surveying the structure became clear that C/U traits are the core of the child and adolescent psychopathic constellation. This paper summarize results of empirical studies connected to C/U traits among children and adolescents. We introduce debatable questions about child and adolescent psychopathic traits and connected empirical studies.

Verbal ability and delinquency: testing the moderating role of psychopathic traits.

PubMed

Muñoz, Luna C; Frick, Paul J; Kimonis, Eva R; Aucoin, Katherine J

2008-04-01

Impaired verbal abilities are one of the most consistent risk factors for serious antisocial and delinquent behavior. However, individuals with psychopathic traits often show serious antisocial behavior, despite showing no impairment in their verbal abilities. Thus, the aim of the current study was to examine whether psychopathy moderates the relationship between verbal abilities and delinquent behavior in a sample of detained youth. The sample included 100 detained adolescent boys who were assessed on self-reported delinquent acts and psychopathic traits, as well as their age at first offense based on official records. Participants also completed a competitive computer task involving two levels of provocation, during which skin conductance was measured. A standard measure of receptive vocabulary was individually administered. As predicted, there was a significant interaction between callous-unemotional (CU) traits (a critical dimension of psychopathy) and verbal ability when predicting violent delinquency. Individuals who were high on CU traits with higher scores on the measure of verbal abilities reported the greatest violent delinquency. These individuals also showed the lowest level of skin conductance reactivity during the provocation task. The results suggest CU traits are an important moderator of the relation between verbal abilities and violent delinquency.

Copper phytoextraction in tandem with oilseed production using commercial cultivars and mutant lines of sunflower.

PubMed

Kolbas, A; Mench, M; Herzig, R; Nehnevajova, E; Bes, C M

2011-01-01

Use of sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) for Cu phytoextraction and oilseed production on Cu-contaminated topsoils was investigated in afield trial at a former wood preservation site. Six commercial cultivars and two mutant lines were cultivated in plots with and without the addition of compost (5% w/w) and dolomitic limestone (0.2% w/w). Total soil Cu ranged from 163 to 1170 mg kg(-1). In soil solutions, Cu concentration varied between 0.16-0.93 mg L(-1). The amendment increased soil pH, reduced Cu exposure and promoted sunflower growth. Stem length, shoot and capitulum biomasses, seed yield, and shoot and leaf Cu concentrations were measured. At low total soil Cu, shoot Cu mineralomass was higher in commercial cultivars, Le., Salut, Energic, and Countri, whereas competition and shading affected morphological traits of mutants. Based on shoot yield (7 Mg DW ha(-1)) and Cu concentration, the highest removal was 59 g Cu ha(-1). At high total soil Cu, shoot Cu mineralomass peaked for mutants (e.g., 52 g Cu ha(-1) for Mutant 1 line) and cultivars Energic and Countri. Energic seed yield (3.9 Mg air-DW ha(-1)) would be sufficient to produce oil Phenotype traits and shoot Cu removal depended on sunflower types and Cu exposure.

The better of two evils? Evidence that children exhibiting continuous conduct problems high or low on callous-unemotional traits score on opposite directions on physiological and behavioral measures of fear.

PubMed

Fanti, Kostas A; Panayiotou, Georgia; Lazarou, Chrysostomos; Michael, Raphaelia; Georgiou, Giorgos

2016-02-01

The present study examines whether heterogeneous groups of children identified based on their longitudinal scores on conduct problems (CP) and callous-unemotional (CU) traits differ on physiological and behavioral measures of fear. Specifically, it aims to test the hypothesis that children with high/stable CP differentiated on CU traits score on opposite directions on a fear-fearless continuum. Seventy-three participants (M age = 11.21; 45.2% female) were selected from a sample of 1,200 children. Children and their parents completed a battery of questionnaires assessing fearfulness, sensitivity to punishment, and behavioral inhibition. Children also participated in an experiment assessing their startle reactivity to fearful mental imagery, a well-established index of defensive motivation. The pattern of results verifies the hypothesis that fearlessness, assessed with physiological and behavioral measures, is a core characteristic of children high on both CP and CU traits (i.e., receiving the DSM-5 specifier of limited prosocial emotions). To the contrary, children with high/stable CP and low CU traits demonstrated high responsiveness to fear, high behavioral inhibition, and high sensitivity to punishment. The study is in accord with the principle of equifinality, in that different developmental mechanisms (i.e., extremes of high and low fear) may have the same behavioral outcome manifested as phenotypic antisocial behavior.

Does early childhood callous-unemotional behavior uniquely predict behavior problems or callous-unemotional behavior in late childhood?

PubMed Central

Waller, Rebecca; Dishion, Thomas J.; Shaw, Daniel S.; Gardner, Frances; Wilson, Melvin N.; Hyde, Luke W.

2016-01-01

Callous unemotional (CU) behavior has been linked to behavior problems in children and adolescents. However, few studies have examined whether CU behavior in early childhood predicts behavior problems or CU behavior in late childhood. This study examined whether indicators of CU behavior at ages 2–4 predicted aggression, rule-breaking, and CU behavior across informants at age 9.5. To test the unique predictive and convergent validity of CU behavior in early childhood, we accounted for stability in behavior problems and method effects to rule out the possibility that rater biases inflated the magnitude of any associations found. Cross-informant data were collected from a multi-ethnic, high-risk sample (N = 731; female = 49%) at ages 2–4 and again at age 9.5. From age 3, CU behavior uniquely predicted aggression and rule-breaking across informants. There were also unique associations between CU behavior assessed at ages 3 and 4 and CU behavior assessed at age 9.5. Findings demonstrate that early-childhood indicators of CU behavior account for unique variance in later childhood behavior problems and CU behavior, taking into account stability in behavior problems over time and method effects. Convergence with a traditional measure of CU behavior in late childhood provides support for the construct validity of a brief early childhood measure of CU behavior. PMID:27598253

Clinical Profiles of Children with Disruptive Behaviors Based on the Severity of Their Conduct Problems, Callous-Unemotional Traits and Emotional Difficulties.

PubMed

Andrade, Brendan F; Sorge, Geoff B; Na, Jennifer Jiwon; Wharton-Shukster, Erika

2015-08-01

This study identified clinical profiles of referred children based on the severity of callous-unemotional (CU) traits, emotional difficulties, and conduct problems. Parents of 166 children (132 males) aged 6-12 years referred to a hospital clinic because of disruptive behavior completed measures to assess these key indicators, and person-centered analysis was used to identify profiles. Four distinct profiles were identified that include: (1) Children low in severity on the three domains, (2) Children high in severity on the three domains, (3) Children high in severity in conduct problems and CU traits with minimal emotional difficulties, and (4) Children high in severity in conduct problems and emotional difficulties with minimal CU traits. Profiles differed in degree of aggression and behavioral impairment. Findings show that clinic-referred children with disruptive behaviors can be grouped based on these important indicators into profiles that have important implications for assessment and treatment selection.

The Clinical Utility of the Proposed DSM-5 Callous-Unemotional Subtype of Conduct Disorder in Young Girls

PubMed Central

Pardini, Dustin; Stepp, Stephanie; Hipwell, Alison; Stouthamer-Loeber, Magda; Loeber, Rolf

2012-01-01

Objective A callous-unemotional (CU) subtype of conduct disorder (CD) has been proposed as an addition to the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistic Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5). This study tested the hypothesis that young girls with the CU subtype of CD will exhibit more severe antisocial behavior and less severe internalizing problems over time relative to girls with CD alone. Secondly, the developmental outcomes of girls with CU traits in the absence of CD was examined because these girls will be overlooked by the proposed CU subtyping scheme. Method Theses issues were examined in a community sample of 1862 girls aged 6-8 at study onset. Outcomes included internalizing and externalizing problems, academic achievement, and global impairment assessed concurrently and at a six year follow-up. Results Girls with the CU subtype of CD had higher levels of externalizing disorder symptoms, bullying, relational aggression, and global impairment than girls with CD alone. Girls with CD alone tended to have more anxiety problems than girls with the CU subtype of CD. Girls with high CU traits without CD exhibited higher ODD and ADHD symptoms and lower academic achievement at the six-year follow-up relative to girls without CU traits and CD. Group differences at the six year follow-up were primarily accounted for by baseline differences on the outcomes. Conclusions The proposed DSM-5 CU subtype of CD identifies young girls who exhibit lower anxiety problems and more severe aggression, CD symptoms, academic problems and global impairment across time than girls with CD alone. PMID:22176940

Effects of Parent Training on Callous-Unemotional Traits, Effortful Control, and Conduct Problems: Mediation by Parenting.

PubMed

Elizur, Yoel; Somech, Lior Y; Vinokur, Amiram D

2017-01-01

Callous-unemotional (CU) traits and effortful control (EC) are personality and temperament traits implicated in early-onset antisocial trajectories. This secondary analysis of Hitkashrut's randomized controlled trial first tested parent training's effects on EC and CU traits while controlling for more general treatment effects on conduct problems (CP), and subsequently tested mediation by parenting. Prekindergarten teachers in three Israeli cities identified 209 3-5 year-old (163 boys; 46 girls) preschoolers with subclinical-clinical range conduct problems. All participants were Jewish ranging from ultra-orthodox to secular. They were assigned to 14-session co-parent training groups (n = 140 couples), or to minimal intervention control groups with referral to local services as necessary (n = 69 couples). We employed averaged indices of pre- and post-intervention questionnaires completed by both parents. The testing of all hypothesized models controlled for treatment effects on CP in order to strengthen the robustness of the analyses. We found significant concurrent treatment effects on CP and on either CU traits or EC. All effects were mediated by ineffective parenting (IP): a latent variable that was indicated by negative/inconsistent practices and perceived parenting inefficacy. This is the first demonstration of parenting mediated treatment effects on both EC and CU traits in a randomized controlled study conducted in everyday practice contexts. This finding supports a disruption model of change: the reduction of IP facilitates a caregiving environment that affects children's behavior and developing personality. The changing of personality and temperament characteristics implicated in early-onset pathways suggests an innovative prevention strategy for disruptive behavior disorders.

Can probation officers identify remorse among male adolescent offenders?

PubMed

Fine, Adam; Cavanagh, Caitlin; Frick, Paul J; Steinberg, Laurence; Cauffman, Elizabeth

2017-06-01

Judgments about a youth's level of remorse are frequently used to make important decisions in the juvenile justice system that can have serious consequences to the person. Unfortunately, little is known about these ratings and what factors may influence them. In a sample of 325 1st-time youth offenders who were arrested for offenses of moderate severity, we tested whether probation officers' ratings of an adolescent's remorse soon after arrest were associated with the youth's self-report of showing a callous and unemotional interpersonal style, being arrested for a violent offense, and several demographic and background characteristics (e.g., age, race, socioeconomic status [SES], and intelligence). Our analyses indicated that both arrest for a violent offense and the adolescent's self-reported level of callous-unemotional (CU) traits were associated with probation officers' ratings of remorse. Further, youth age, SES, and intelligence neither were associated with these judgments nor moderated the association between CU traits and probation officers' ratings of remorse. However, youth race or ethnicity did moderate the association between CU traits and judgments of remorse, such that Latino youth who were high on CU traits showed a very low probability of being rated as remorseful. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Knowing right from wrong, but just not always feeling it: relations among callous-unemotional traits, psychopathological symptoms, and cognitive and affective morality judgments in 8- to 12-year-old boys.

PubMed

Feilhauer, Johanna; Cima, Maaike; Benjamins, Caroline; Muris, Peter

2013-12-01

The present research expands our understanding of cognitive and affective morality by exploring associations with callous-unemotional (CU) traits and externalizing symptoms. Participants were 46 8- to 12-year-old boys from the community who completed the Affective Morality Index, the Youth Self-Report, and the Inventory of Callous-Unemotional Traits. A pattern of results was found indicating that in particular the combination of high CU traits and high externalizing symptoms was associated with lack of affective morality, and an increased perceived likelihood of recommitting antisocial acts (recidivism). The implications of these findings and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Analyzing life-history traits and lipid storage using CARS microscopy for assessing effects of copper on the fitness of Caenorhabditis elegans.

PubMed

Fueser, Hendrik; Majdi, Nabil; Haegerbaeumer, Arne; Pilger, Christian; Hachmeister, Henning; Greife, Paul; Huser, Thomas; Traunspurger, Walter

2018-07-30

Lipid storage provides energy for cell survival, growth, and reproduction and is closely related to the organismal response to stress imposed by toxic chemicals. However, the effects of toxicants on energy storage as it impacts certain life-history traits have rarely been investigated. Here, we used the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans as a test species for a chronic exposure to copper (Cu) at EC20 (0.50 mg Cu/l). Effects on the fatty acid distribution in C. elegans body were determined using coherent anti-Stokes Raman spectroscopy (CARS) to link population fitness responses with individual ecophysiological responses. Cu inhibited nematode reproductive capacity and offspring growth in addition to shortening the lifespan of exposed individuals. In adult nematodes, Cu exposure led to significant reduction of lipid storage compared to the Cu-free control: Under Cu, lipids filled only 0.5% of the nematode body volume vs. 7.5% in control nematodes, lipid droplets were on average 74% smaller and the number of tiny lipids (0-10 µm 2 ) was increased. These results suggest that (1) Cu has an important effect on the life-history traits of nematodes; (2) the quantification of lipid storage can provide important information on the response of organisms to toxic stress; and (3) CARS microscopy is a promising tool for non-invasive quantitative and qualitative analyses of lipids as a measure of nematode fitness. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Empathic Accuracy in Male Adolescents with Conduct Disorder and Higher versus Lower Levels of Callous-Unemotional Traits.

PubMed

Martin-Key, N; Brown, T; Fairchild, G

2017-10-01

Adolescents with disruptive behavior disorders are reported to show deficits in empathy and emotion recognition. However, prior studies have mainly used questionnaires to measure empathy or experimental paradigms that are lacking in ecological validity. We used an empathic accuracy (EA) task to study EA, emotion recognition, and affective empathy in 77 male adolescents aged 13-18 years: 37 with Conduct Disorder (CD) and 40 typically-developing controls. The CD sample was divided into higher callous-emotional traits (CD/CU+) and lower callous-unemotional traits (CD/CU-) subgroups using a median split. Participants watched films of actors recalling happy, sad, surprised, angry, disgusted or fearful autobiographical experiences and provided continuous ratings of emotional intensity (assessing EA), as well as naming the emotion (recognition) and reporting the emotion they experienced themselves (affective empathy). The CD and typically-developing groups did not significantly differ in EA and there were also no differences between the CD/CU+ and CD/CU- subgroups. Participants with CD were significantly less accurate than controls in recognizing sadness, fear, and disgust, all ps < 0.050, rs ≥ 0.30, whilst the CD/CU- and CD/CU+ subgroups did not differ in emotion recognition. Participants with CD also showed affective empathy deficits for sadness, fear, and disgust relative to controls, all ps < 0.010, rs ≥ 0.33, whereas the CD/CU+ and CD/CU- subgroups did not differ in affective empathy. These results extend prior research by demonstrating affective empathy and emotion recognition deficits in adolescents with CD using a more ecologically-valid task, and challenge the view that affective empathy deficits are specific to CD/CU+.

Effect of simulated climate warming on the morphological and physiological traits of Elsholtzia haichowensis in copper contaminated soil.

PubMed

Guan, Ming; Jin, Zexin; Li, Junmin; Pan, Xiaocui; Wang, Suizi; Li, Yuelin

2016-01-01

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of temperature and Cu on the morphological and physiological traits of Elsholtzia haichowensis grown in soils amended with four Cu concentrations (0, 50, 500, and 1000 mg kg(-1)) under ambient temperature and slight warming. At the same Cu concentration, the height, shoot dry weight, total plant dry weight, and root morphological parameters such as length, surface area and tip number of E. haichowensis increased due to the slight warming. The net photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance, transpiration, light use efficiency were also higher under the slight warming than under ambient temperature. The increased Cu concentrations, total Cu uptake, bioaccumulation factors and tolerance indexes of shoots and roots were also observed at the slight warming. The shoot dry weight, root dry weight, total plant dry weight and the bioaccumulation factors of shoots and roots at 50 mg Cu kg(-1) were significantly higher than those at 500 and 1000 mg Cu kg(-1) under the slight warming. Therefore, the climate warming may improve the ability of E. haichowensis to phytoremediate Cu-contaminated soil, and the ability improvement greatly depended on the Cu concentrations in soils.

Effects of Callous-Unemotional Traits on the Association Between Parenting and Child Conduct Problems.

PubMed

Crum, Kathleen I; Waschbusch, Daniel A; Bagner, Daniel M; Coxe, Stefany

2015-12-01

The current study investigated whether and how callous-unemotional traits (CU) moderated the association between specific parenting practices and child conduct problems (CP) with a special consideration of informant patterns. Associations between CU, ODD and CD symptom severity, and the parenting practices of deficient monitoring, positive involvement, and negative/ineffective discipline were examined across parent and teacher reports on 851 elementary-school students. Relative to children with low CU, in children with high CU: (1) positive parenting was associated with lower CD, but increased ODD; (2) negative/ineffective discipline was associated with increased ODD; (3) deficient monitoring was associated with increased CD. Results were not robust across informants. These findings suggest that in the context of CU, the associations between parenting and CP differ based on parenting characteristics, CP dimensions, and informant, and that families may benefit from treatment targeting specific parenting practices based on CP symptom profiles.

Aggression in Children with Conduct Problems and Callous-Unemotional Traits: Social Information Processing and Response to Peer Provocation.

PubMed

Helseth, Sarah A; Waschbusch, Daniel A; King, Sara; Willoughby, Michael T

2015-11-01

Callous/unemotional traits (CU) moderate children's conduct problems (CP) in numerous domains, including social functioning. The present study examined whether CU traits also moderate the aggressiveness of children's social information processing (SIP) and responses to varying intensities of peer provocation. Sixty elementary school-age children (46 males) were grouped into those without CP or CU (controls, n = 32), those with CP but not CU (CP-only; n = 14), and those with both CP and CU (CPCU, n = 14). Participants completed a task that measured two aspects of SIP (response generation and hostile attribution bias) and a computerized reaction time task (CRTT) that measured behavior, affect, and communication before and after provocation under instrumental and hostile aggressive conditions. Children with CPCU generated more aggressive responses than controls on measures of SIP. On the CRTT, all children exhibited reactive aggression following high provocation, but only children with CPCU exhibited proactive aggression, and reactive aggression following low provocation; no differences in affect were found. In a series of exploratory analyses, CPCU children communicated antisocially, while CP-only communicated prosocially. Finally, children with CPCU did not seem to hold a grudge following the final instance of provocation, instead gradually returning to baseline like their non-CU peers. These distinct social cognitive and behavioral profiles hint at different etiologies of CP and CPCU, underscoring the variability of aggression in these populations.

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and callous-unemotional traits as moderators of conduct problems when examining impairment in emerging adults.

PubMed

Babinski, Dara E; Neely, Kristina A; Kunselman, Allen; Waschbusch, Daniel A

2017-12-01

This study examines attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and callous-unemotional (CU) traits as moderators of the association between conduct problems (CP) and young adult functioning. Young adults (n = 283; M age = 20.82 years; 53.4% female), oversampled for attention and behavior problems, provided self-ratings of ADHD, CP, and CU, and adaptive functioning and psychopathology. ADHD and CU simultaneously moderated relationships between CP and family functioning, tobacco use, and internalizing symptoms. In addition, ADHD moderated the relation between CP and job functioning, and main effects of ADHD in the expected direction were found for educational performance and drug use. CU was associated with poorer educational outcomes. Interestingly, no ADHD, CU, or CP effects were observed for reported alcohol use. Our results highlight the importance of considering ADHD and CU in understanding the impact of CP on young adult functioning and psychopathology, and point to the importance of continued work on this topic. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

General and maladaptive personality dimensions and the assessment of callous-unemotional traits in adolescence.

PubMed

Decuyper, Mieke; De Bolle, Marleen; De Fruyt, Filip; De Clercq, Barbara

2011-10-01

Associations between callous-unemotional traits and general and maladaptive personality dimensions are examined in adolescence. More specifically, it was investigated to what extent general and maladaptive personality dimensions can account for the variance in callous-unemotional (CU) scores. Adolescents (N = 509) and their mothers completed the Inventory of Callous-Unemotional Traits (ICU; Frick, 2003), the Hierarchical Personality Inventory for Children (HiPIC; Mervielde & De Fruyt, 1999, 2002), and the Dimensional Personality Symptom Item Pool (DIPSI; De Clercq, De Fruyt, Van Leeuwen, & Mervielde, 2006). Both personality measures accounted for substantial variance in ICU scores and the overall CU profile in terms of the HiPIC and DIPSI was consistent with psychopathy conceptualizations and consistent across informant. Implications for the assessment of early externalizing trait pathology are discussed.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Roberts, F. Sloan; Kuhl, Kendra P.; Nilsson, Anders

The activity and selectivity for CO 2/CO reduction over copper electrodes is strongly dependent on the local surface structure of the catalyst and the pH of the electrolyte. Here we investigate a unique, copper nanocube surface (CuCube) as a CO reduction electrode under neutral and basic pH, using online electrochemical mass spectroscopy (OLEMS) to determine the onset potentials and relative intensities of methane and ethylene production. To relate the unique selectivity to the surface structure, the CuCube surface reactivity is compared to polycrystalline copper and three single crystals under the same reaction conditions. Here, we find that the high selectivitymore » for ethylene over the CuCube surface is most comparable to the Cu(100) surface, which has the cubic unit cell. However, the suppression of methane production over CuCube is unique to that particular surface. Basic pH is also shown to enhance ethylene selectivity on all surfaces, again with the CuCube surface being unique.« less

Indirect Effects of the Fast Track Intervention on Conduct Disorder Symptoms and Callous-Unemotional Traits: Distinct Pathways Involving Discipline and Warmth

PubMed Central

Pasalich, Dave S.; Witkiewitz, Katie; McMahon, Robert J.; Pinderhughes, Ellen E.

2016-01-01

Little is known about intervening processes that explain how prevention programs improve particular youth antisocial outcomes. We examined whether parental harsh discipline and warmth in childhood differentially account for Fast Track intervention effects on conduct disorder (CD) symptoms and callous-unemotional (CU) traits in early adolescence. Participants included 891 high-risk kindergarteners (69% male; 51% African American) from urban and rural United States communities who were randomized into either the Fast Track intervention (n = 445) or non-intervention control (n = 446) groups. The 10-year intervention included parent management training and other services (e.g., social skills training, universal classroom curriculum) targeting various risk factors for the development of conduct problems. Harsh discipline (Grades 1 through 3) and warmth (Grades 1 and 2) were measured using parent responses to vignettes and direct observations of parent-child interaction, respectively. Parents reported on children’s CD symptoms in Grade 6 and CU traits in Grade 7. Results demonstrated indirect effects of the Fast Track intervention on reducing risk for youth antisocial outcomes. That is, Fast Track was associated with lower scores on harsh discipline, which in turn predicted decreased levels of CD symptoms. In addition, Fast Track was associated with higher scores on warmth, which in turn predicted reduced levels of CU traits. Our findings inform developmental and intervention models of youth antisocial behavior by providing evidence for the differential role of harsh discipline and warmth in accounting for indirect effects of Fast Track on CD symptoms versus CU traits, respectively. PMID:26242993

Indirect Effects of the Fast Track Intervention on Conduct Disorder Symptoms and Callous-Unemotional Traits: Distinct Pathways Involving Discipline and Warmth.

PubMed

Pasalich, Dave S; Witkiewitz, Katie; McMahon, Robert J; Pinderhughes, Ellen E

2016-04-01

Little is known about intervening processes that explain how prevention programs improve particular youth antisocial outcomes. We examined whether parental harsh discipline and warmth in childhood differentially account for Fast Track intervention effects on conduct disorder (CD) symptoms and callous-unemotional (CU) traits in early adolescence. Participants included 891 high-risk kindergarteners (69% male; 51% African American) from urban and rural United States communities who were randomized into either the Fast Track intervention (n = 445) or non-intervention control (n = 446) groups. The 10-year intervention included parent management training and other services (e.g., social skills training, universal classroom curriculum) targeting various risk factors for the development of conduct problems. Harsh discipline (Grades 1 to 3) and warmth (Grades 1 and 2) were measured using parent responses to vignettes and direct observations of parent-child interaction, respectively. Parents reported on children's CD symptoms in Grade 6 and CU traits in Grade 7. Results demonstrated indirect effects of the Fast Track intervention on reducing risk for youth antisocial outcomes. That is, Fast Track was associated with lower scores on harsh discipline, which in turn predicted decreased levels of CD symptoms. In addition, Fast Track was associated with higher scores on warmth, which in turn predicted reduced levels of CU traits. Our findings inform developmental and intervention models of youth antisocial behavior by providing evidence for the differential role of harsh discipline and warmth in accounting for indirect effects of Fast Track on CD symptoms versus CU traits, respectively.

Effects of Cu Pollution on the Expansion of an Amphibious Clonal Herb in Aquatic-Terrestrial Ecotones.

PubMed

Xu, Liang; Zhou, Zhen-Feng

2016-01-01

Physiological integration can enhance the performance of clonal plants in aquatic and terrestrial heterogeneous habitats and associated ecotones. Similar to nutrients, pollutants may be transported among connected ramets via physiological integration. Few studies have examined the expansion of amphibious clonal plants from terrestrial to aquatic environments, particularly when the local water supply is polluted with heavy metals. A greenhouse experiment was conducted using the amphibious plant Alternanthera philoxeroides to determine whether Cu can spread among clonal plants and examine the corresponding effects of this pollution on the expansion of clonal plants in aquatic-terrestrial ecotones. Ramets from the same clonal fragments were rooted in unpolluted soil and polluted water at five different levels. The responses of the ramets in terrestrial and aquatic habitats were quantified via traits associated with growth, morphology and Cu accumulation. The results indicated that ramets in soil and water significantly differed in nearly all of these traits. The expansion of populations from terrestrial to polluted aquatic habitats was facilitated by stem elongation rather than new ramet production. The accumulated Cu in polluted ramets can be horizontally transported to other ramets in soil via connected stolons. In terms of clonal growth patterns, variations in Cu pollution intensity were negatively correlated with variations in the morphological and growth traits of ramets in polluted aquatic habitats and unpolluted soil. We concluded that Cu ions are distributed among the clones and accumulated in different ramet tissues in heterogeneous habitats. Therefore, we suggest that Cu pollution of aquatic-terrestrial ecotones, especially at high levels, can affect the growth and expansion of the whole clones because Cu ions are shared between integrated ramets.

Effects of Cu Pollution on the Expansion of an Amphibious Clonal Herb in Aquatic-Terrestrial Ecotones

PubMed Central

Zhou, Zhen-Feng

2016-01-01

Physiological integration can enhance the performance of clonal plants in aquatic and terrestrial heterogeneous habitats and associated ecotones. Similar to nutrients, pollutants may be transported among connected ramets via physiological integration. Few studies have examined the expansion of amphibious clonal plants from terrestrial to aquatic environments, particularly when the local water supply is polluted with heavy metals. A greenhouse experiment was conducted using the amphibious plant Alternanthera philoxeroides to determine whether Cu can spread among clonal plants and examine the corresponding effects of this pollution on the expansion of clonal plants in aquatic-terrestrial ecotones. Ramets from the same clonal fragments were rooted in unpolluted soil and polluted water at five different levels. The responses of the ramets in terrestrial and aquatic habitats were quantified via traits associated with growth, morphology and Cu accumulation. The results indicated that ramets in soil and water significantly differed in nearly all of these traits. The expansion of populations from terrestrial to polluted aquatic habitats was facilitated by stem elongation rather than new ramet production. The accumulated Cu in polluted ramets can be horizontally transported to other ramets in soil via connected stolons. In terms of clonal growth patterns, variations in Cu pollution intensity were negatively correlated with variations in the morphological and growth traits of ramets in polluted aquatic habitats and unpolluted soil. We concluded that Cu ions are distributed among the clones and accumulated in different ramet tissues in heterogeneous habitats. Therefore, we suggest that Cu pollution of aquatic-terrestrial ecotones, especially at high levels, can affect the growth and expansion of the whole clones because Cu ions are shared between integrated ramets. PMID:27736932

A Behavioral Test of Accepting Benefits that Cost Others: Associations with Conduct Problems and Callous-Unemotionality

PubMed Central

Sakai, Joseph T.; Dalwani, Manish S.; Gelhorn, Heather L.; Mikulich-Gilbertson, Susan K.; Crowley, Thomas J.

2012-01-01

Background Youth with conduct problems (CP) often make decisions which value self-interest over the interests of others. Self-benefiting behavior despite loss to others is especially common among youth with CP and callous-unemotional traits (CU). Such behavioral tendencies are generally measured using self- or observer-report. We are unaware of attempts to measure this tendency with a behavioral paradigm. Methods/Principal Findings In our AlAn's (altruism-antisocial) game a computer program presents subjects with a series of offers in which they will receive money but a planned actual charity donation will be reduced; subjects decide to accept or reject each offer. We tested (1) whether adolescent patients with CP (n = 20) compared with adolescent controls (n = 19) differed on AlAn's game outcomes, (2) whether youths with CP and CU differed significantly from controls without CP or CU, and (3) whether AlAn's game outcomes correlated significantly with CP and separately, CU severity. Patients with CP and CU compared with controls without these problems took significantly more money for themselves and left significantly less money in the charity donation; AlAn's game outcomes were significantly correlated with CU, but not CP. Conclusions/Significance In the AlAn's game adolescents with conduct problems and CU traits, compared with controls without CP/CU, are disposed to benefit themselves while costing others even in a novel situation, devoid of peer influences, where anonymity is assured, reciprocity or retribution are impossible, intoxication is absent and when the “other” to be harmed is considered beneficent. AlAn's game outcomes are associated with measures of CU. Results suggest that the AlAn's game provides an objective means of capturing information about CU traits. The AlAn's game, which was designed for future use in the MRI environment, may be used in studies attempting to identify the neural correlates of self-benefiting decision-making. PMID:22558367

Predictive Value of Callous-Unemotional Traits in a Large Community Sample

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moran, Paul; Rowe, Richard; Flach, Clare; Briskman, Jacqueline; Ford, Tamsin; Maughan, Barbara; Scott, Stephen; Goodman, Robert

2009-01-01

Objective: Callous-unemotional (CU) traits in children and adolescents are increasingly recognized as a distinctive dimension of prognostic importance in clinical samples. Nevertheless, comparatively little is known about the longitudinal effects of these personality traits on the mental health of young people from the general population. Using a…

Callous-unemotional traits and early life stress predict treatment effects on stress and sex hormone functioning in incarcerated male adolescents.

PubMed

Johnson, Megan; Vitacco, Michael J; Shirtcliff, Elizabeth A

2018-03-01

The stress response system is highly plastic, and hormone rhythms may "adaptively calibrate" in response to treatment. This investigation assessed whether stress and sex hormone diurnal rhythms changed over the course of behavioral treatment, and whether callous-unemotional (CU) traits and history of early adversity affected treatment results on diurnal hormone functioning in a sample of 28 incarcerated adolescent males. It was hypothesized that the treatment would have beneficial effects, such that healthier diurnal rhythms would emerge post-treatment. Diurnal cortisol, testosterone, and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) were sampled two weeks after admission to the correctional/treatment facility, and again approximately four months later. Positive treatment effects were detected for the whole sample, such that testosterone dampened across treatment. CU traits predicted a non-optimal hormone response to treatment, potentially indicating biological preparedness to respond to acts of social dominance and aggression. The interaction between CU traits and adversity predicted a promising and sensitized response to treatment including increased cortisol and a steeper testosterone drop across treatment. Results suggest that stress and sex hormones are highly receptive to treatment during this window of development.

Amygdala reactivity predicts adolescent antisocial behavior but not callous-unemotional traits

PubMed Central

Dotterer, Hailey L.; Hyde, Luke W.; Swartz, Johnna R.; Hariri, Ahmad R.; Williamson, Douglas E.

2017-01-01

Recent neuroimaging studies have suggested divergent relationships between antisocial behavior (AB) and callous-unemotional (CU) traits and amygdala reactivity to fearful and angry facial expressions in adolescents. However, little work has examined if these findings extend to dimensional measures of behavior in ethnically diverse, non-clinical samples, or if participant sex, ethnicity, pubertal stage, and age moderate associations. We examined links between amygdala reactivity and dimensions of AB and CU traits in 220 Hispanic and non-Hispanic Caucasian adolescents (age 11–15; 49.5% female; 38.2% Hispanic), half of whom had a family history for depression and thus were at relatively elevated risk for late starting, emotionally dysregulated AB. We found that AB was significantly related to increased right amygdala reactivity to angry facial expressions independent of sex, ethnicity, pubertal stage, age, and familial risk status for depression. CU traits were not related to fear- or anger-related amygdala reactivity. The present study further demonstrates that AB is related to increased amygdala reactivity to interpersonal threat cues in adolescents, and that this relationship generalizes across sex, ethnicity, pubertal stage, age, and familial risk status for depression. PMID:28279916

Amygdala reactivity predicts adolescent antisocial behavior but not callous-unemotional traits.

PubMed

Dotterer, Hailey L; Hyde, Luke W; Swartz, Johnna R; Hariri, Ahmad R; Williamson, Douglas E

2017-04-01

Recent neuroimaging studies have suggested divergent relationships between antisocial behavior (AB) and callous-unemotional (CU) traits and amygdala reactivity to fearful and angry facial expressions in adolescents. However, little work has examined if these findings extend to dimensional measures of behavior in ethnically diverse, non-clinical samples, or if participant sex, ethnicity, pubertal stage, and age moderate associations. We examined links between amygdala reactivity and dimensions of AB and CU traits in 220 Hispanic and non-Hispanic Caucasian adolescents (age 11-15; 49.5% female; 38.2% Hispanic), half of whom had a family history for depression and thus were at relatively elevated risk for late starting, emotionally dysregulated AB. We found that AB was significantly related to increased right amygdala reactivity to angry facial expressions independent of sex, ethnicity, pubertal stage, age, and familial risk status for depression. CU traits were not related to fear- or anger-related amygdala reactivity. The present study further demonstrates that AB is related to increased amygdala reactivity to interpersonal threat cues in adolescents, and that this relationship generalizes across sex, ethnicity, pubertal stage, age, and familial risk status for depression. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Callous-Unemotional Traits in a Community Sample of Adolescents

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Essau, Cecilia A.; Sasagawa, Satoko; Frick, Paul J.

2006-01-01

This study examined the structure, distribution, and correlates of a new measure of self-reported callous-unemotional (CU) traits in 1,443 adolescents (774 boys, 669 girls) between the ages of 13 to 18 years. The Inventory of Callous-Unemotional Traits was subjected to exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis. Exploratory…

Exploring Narcissism, Psychopathy, and Machiavellianism in Youth: Examination of Associations with Antisocial Behavior and Aggression

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lau, Katherine S. L.; Marsee, Monica A.

2013-01-01

We sought to explore the differential associations of callous-unemotional (CU) traits, narcissistic traits, and Machiavellian traits with overt aggression, relational aggression, delinquency, behavioral dysregulation, and emotional dysregulation in a community sample of boys and girls (ages 11-17). Results indicated that the three personality…

Maternal Care, Maltreatment and Callous-Unemotional Traits among Urban Male Juvenile Offenders

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kimonis, Eva R.; Cross, Brittany; Howard, Aisha; Donoghue, Kathleen

2013-01-01

Callous-unemotional (CU) traits (i.e., lack of empathy/guilt, uncaring attitudes) are believed to be a developmental antecedent to adult psychopathy and identify antisocial youth at risk for severe and persistent aggression. The psychosocial histories of antisocial and aggressive individuals with psychopathic traits are characterized by abusive or…

Greater fear reactivity and psychophysiological hyperactivity among infants with later conduct problems and callous-unemotional traits

PubMed Central

Mills-Koonce, W. Roger; Wagner, Nicholas J.; Willoughby, Michael T.; Stifter, Cynthia; Blair, Clancy; Granger, Douglas A.

2014-01-01

Background Approximately one-third of children who meet criteria for conduct problems (CP) are also characterized by elevated callous-unemotional (CU) traits. This subgroup is at elevated risk for more pervasive and extreme levels of later antisocial behavior and has been characterized by a fearlessness temperament and blunted stress psychophysiology at older ages. The objective of this study is to examine group differences in fear reactivity and stress psychophysiology in infancy among children classified as having CP with CU (CP+CU), CP without CU (CP-only), or no CP in later childhood. Methods A birth cohort study (n = 1,292) was followed longitudinally from birth through 1st grade. Behavioral fear, baseline heart period (HP) and respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), and pre-task, 20-min post-task and 40-min post-task salivary cortisol were assessed at 6 and 15 months of age around a fear challenge task. CP and CU were assessed by maternal report at 1st grade and children were classified into CP and CU groups if they scored in the upper 10th percentile of these ratings. Results No group differences were observed in children at 6 months of age. However, at 15 months of age children with later CP+CU displayed greater high-intensity fear behavior, higher pre-task and overall cortisol levels, and lower levels of HP and RSA compared to children with CP-only and children with no CP. Conclusions The discrepancy between the biobehavioral correlates of conduct problems with callous-unemotional traits in infancy and those reported from studies of older children and adults suggests that the etiology of this behavioral phenotype may be more complex than a simple genetic maturation model. PMID:24992385

Investigating the Relationships Between Antisocial Behaviors, Psychopathic Traits, and Moral Disengagement

PubMed Central

Risser, Scott; Eckert, Katy

2016-01-01

The present study investigated the relations between morally disengaged attitudes, psychopathic affective traits, and a variety of antisocial and risky behaviors in a sample of adults (N = 181). A second aim of the study was to examine the unique contributions of moral disengagement and psychopathic traits in predicting problematic behavior while the other construct is statistically controlled. Results indicated that whereas psychopathic traits and moral disengagement were both uniquely predictive of non-violent antisocial behaviors, only remorselessness was uniquely predictive of violence and only morally disengaged attitudes were uniquely predictive of academic cheating. Differing relationships also emerged by gender. PMID:26906015

Demonstration of Ultra High-Strength Nanocrystalline Copper Alloys for Military Applications

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-01-22

Powder Processing vi Acknowledgements The development of these Cu -Ta alloys was accomplished with assistance from the following...nanostructured Cu -Ta based alloy powders with a unique ability to retain their ultrahigh strength properties to temperatures nearing the melting point of the Cu ...nanostructured Cu -Ta based alloy powders with the unique ability to retain their ultrahigh strength properties to temperatures

Associations among cruelty to animals, family conflict, and psychopathic traits in childhood.

PubMed

Dadds, Mark R; Whiting, Clare; Hawes, David J

2006-03-01

Previous research has produced mixed findings on the role of child and family factors in the genesis of childhood cruelty. The authors examined the relationships of cruelty to animals to a range of child and family factors. First, the authors test the idea that cruelty is a callous aggression that will be more strongly associated with psychopathic (callous or unemotional, CU) traits than general externalizing problems. Second, the authors operationalize family problems as open conflict rather than parenting problems as used earlier. Results indicated that for both genders, CU traits were associated strongly with cruelty. For boys, externalizing problems also added prediction in regression analyses. Family conflict was not associated with cruelty for either. These results suggest that cruelty to animals may be an early manifestation of the subgroup of children developing conduct problems associated with traits of low empathy and callous disregard rather than the more common pathway of externalizing problems and parenting problems.

The DSM-5 Limited Prosocial Emotions subtype of Conduct Disorder in incarcerated male and female juvenile delinquents.

PubMed

Pechorro, Pedro; Jiménez, Lucía; Hidalgo, Victoria; Nunes, Cristina

2015-01-01

The aim of the present study was to analyze the relevance of the DSM-5's Conduct Disorder new Limited Prosocial Emotions (CD LPE) specifier in incarcerated juvenile delinquents. A sample of 201 males and 98 females from the Juvenile Detention Centers managed by the Portuguese Ministry of Justice diagnosed with Conduct Disorder (CD) was used. Results showed that male juvenile delinquents with the CD LPE specifier scored higher on callous-unemotional traits (CU), general psychopathic traits, psychopathy taxon membership, self-reported delinquency, and crime seriousness, and lower on prosocial behavior and social desirability, while female juvenile delinquents with the CD LPE specifier scored higher on callous-unemotional traits (CU) and general psychopathic traits, and lower on prosocial behavior. Significant associations for both genders were found between the CD LPE specifier and age of crime onset and first problems with the law. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Irritable Oppositional Defiance and Callous Unemotional Traits: Is the Association Partially Explained by Peer Victimization?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barker, Edward D.; Salekin, Randall T.

2012-01-01

Background: Irritability is a subdimension of ODD, which predicts mainly to internalizing disorders, and to a lesser extent, conduct problems and callous-unemotional traits. Given that youth with similar dispositions as the irritable types--as well as youth high in callous-unemotional (CU) traits--have both been reported to experience high levels…

Electroreduction of carbon monoxide over a copper nanocube catalyst: Surface structure and pH dependence on selectivity

DOE PAGES

Roberts, F. Sloan; Kuhl, Kendra P.; Nilsson, Anders

2016-02-16

The activity and selectivity for CO 2/CO reduction over copper electrodes is strongly dependent on the local surface structure of the catalyst and the pH of the electrolyte. Here we investigate a unique, copper nanocube surface (CuCube) as a CO reduction electrode under neutral and basic pH, using online electrochemical mass spectroscopy (OLEMS) to determine the onset potentials and relative intensities of methane and ethylene production. To relate the unique selectivity to the surface structure, the CuCube surface reactivity is compared to polycrystalline copper and three single crystals under the same reaction conditions. Here, we find that the high selectivitymore » for ethylene over the CuCube surface is most comparable to the Cu(100) surface, which has the cubic unit cell. However, the suppression of methane production over CuCube is unique to that particular surface. Basic pH is also shown to enhance ethylene selectivity on all surfaces, again with the CuCube surface being unique.« less

How do different dimensions of adolescent narcissism impact the relation between callous-unemotional traits and self-reported aggression?

PubMed

Lee-Rowland, Lauren M; Barry, Christopher T; Gillen, Christopher T A; Hansen, Laura K

2017-01-01

The current study examined the moderating influence that different aspects of narcissism have on the relation between callous-unemotional (CU) traits and aggression in a sample of 720 adolescents (500 males), ages 16-19 enrolled in a 22-week residential program. Findings from the two studies revealed that psychopathy-linked narcissism as assessed by the Antisocial Process Screening Device (APSD; Frick & Hare, 2001; Antisocial process screening device. Toronto: Multi-Health Systems.) and vulnerable narcissism as assessed using the Pathological Narcissism Inventory (PNI; Pincus et al., 2009; Initial construction and validation of the Pathological Narcissism Inventory. Psychological Assessment, 21, 365-379) significantly moderated the relation between CU traits and aggression in adolescents. Conversely, non-pathological narcissism assessed by the Narcissistic Personality Inventory for Children (NPIC; Barry, Frick, & Killian, 2003; The relation of narcissism and self-esteem to conduct problems in children. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 32, 139-152) and PNI grandiose narcissism did not significantly impact this relation. These results suggest that forms of narcissism most closely connected to internalizing problems combined with CU traits are associated with relatively heightened aggression in youth. The implications of these findings are discussed. Aggr. Behav. 43:14-25, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Arbuscular mycorrhiza fungi facilitate rapid adaptation of Elsholtzia splendens to copper.

PubMed

Li, Junmin; Liang, Huijuan; Yan, Ming; Chen, Luxi; Zhang, Huating; Liu, Jie; Wang, Suizi; Jin, Zexin

2017-12-01

Closely associated microbes have been shown to drive local adaptation of plants. However, few studies provide direct evidence, disclosing the role of arbuscular mycorrhiza fungi (AMF) in their rapid adaptation of plants toward heavy metal tolerance. Elsholtzia splendens is a Cu-tolerant plant that was used as a model plant to study seed morphological traits as well as traits related to seed germination and seedling growth. This was achieved after acclimation for two generations with 1000mg/kg CuSO 4 in either absence or presence of AMF. In the absence of AMF, acclimation to Cu for two generations significantly decreased surface area, perimeter length, and perimeter width of E. splendens seeds, as well as seedling survival rate and fresh weight of the radicle of seedlings. However, in the presence of AMF, both the germination rate and the germination index of E. splendens seeds as well as the fresh weights of hypocotyl and radicle significantly increased. These results revealed that after Cu acclimation treatment, seeds and seedlings that had been inoculated with AMF outperformed those without AMF inoculation under Cu addition, indicating that AMF can facilitate rapid adaptation of E. splendens to Cu stress. In addition, two generations of Cu acclimation under AMF absence significantly increased radicle length, while amplitude increased under AMF presence, indicating that the direct adaptive plasticity response of radicle length to Cu stress helps with the Cu stress adaptation of E. splendens. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Effect of feeding complete feed block containing rumen protected protein, non-protein nitrogen and rumen protected fat on improving body condition and carcass traits of cull ewes.

PubMed

Bhatt, R S; Sahoo, A

2017-12-01

Nutrient utilization, body condition and carcass traits of cull ewes were studied in three dietary regimens based on complete feed block (CFB) feeding to control (C) with rumen protected protein (RPP), CU [RPP + urea (6 g/kg)] and CUF [RPP + urea + rumen protected fat (RPF; 40 g/kg)]. The RPP component (g/kg) in C had 1% formaldehyde-treated soy flakes 50, mustard cake 50 and sesame cake 30. The mustard and sesame cakes were replaced with urea on equivalent N basis in CU and CUF. The ewes were offered ad libitum CFB composed (g/kg) of concentrate 650, roughage 300 and molasses 50. The digestibility of OM and EE was higher (p < 0.05) in CUF than in CU and C, while that of NDF and ADF was lower (p < 0.05). The CP digestibility was higher in both CU and CUF. Utilization of N and Ca was higher (p < 0.05) in CUF compared with C and CU. Urinary purine derivatives analysis and microbial N synthesis were similar in all the groups. Blood glucose concentration improved at 90 day compared with 0 day. Ruminal attributes showed a higher (p < 0.05) pH, total N, TCA precipitable N, entodiniomorphs and total ciliate population in CU and CUF than in the control. The CUF had higher (p < 0.01) DM, digestible OM and ME intake, which resulted in higher (p < 0.05) weight gain and better feed efficiency. Ewes in all the groups showed an improvement in carcass traits at 90 day. The pre-slaughter weight was higher (p < 0.05) and dissected and KOH bone content was lower in CUF. Thus, feeding of CFB with urea as a cheaper N source and RPF to enrich with energy supported the improved performance as evidenced from higher nutrient input, 'utilization and efficiency with enhanced carcass traits' for better marketability and returns from cull ewes. Journal of Animal Physiology and Animal Nutrition © 2017 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

High-throughput tool to discriminate effects of NMs (Cu-NPs, Cu-nanowires, CuNO3, and Cu salt aged): transcriptomics in Enchytraeus crypticus.

PubMed

Gomes, Susana I L; Roca, Carlos P; Pegoraro, Natália; Trindade, Tito; Scott-Fordsmand, Janeck J; Amorim, Mónica J B

2018-05-01

The current testing of nanomaterials (NMs) via standard toxicity tests does not cover many of the NMs specificities. One of the recommendations lays on understanding the mechanisms of action, as these can help predicting long-term effects and safe-by-design production. In the present study, we used the high-throughput gene expression tool, developed for Enchytraeus crypticus (4 × 44k Agilent microarray), to study the effects of exposure to several copper (Cu) forms. The Cu treatments included two NMs (spherical and wires) and two copper-salt treatments (CuNO 3 spiked and Cu salt field historical contamination). To relate gene expression with higher effect level, testing was done with reproduction effect concentrations (EC 20 , EC 50 ), using 3 and 7 days as exposure periods. Results showed that time plays a major role in the transcriptomic response, most of it occurring after 3 days. Analysis of gene expression profiles showed that Cu-salt-aged and Cu-nanowires (Nwires) differed from CuNO 3 and Cu-nanoparticles (NPs). Functional analysis revealed specific mechanisms: Cu-NPs uniquely affected senescence and cuticle pattern formation, which can result from the contact of the NPs with the worms' tegument. Cu-Nwires affected reproduction via male gamete generation and hermaphrodite genitalia development. CuNO 3 affected neurotransmission and locomotory behavior, both of which can be related with avoidance response. Cu salt-aged uniquely affected phagocytosis and reproductive system development (via different mechanisms than Cu-Nwires). For the first time for Cu (nano)materials, the adverse outcome pathways (AOPs) drafted here provide an overview for common and unique effects per material and linkage with apical effects.

Greater fear reactivity and psychophysiological hyperactivity among infants with later conduct problems and callous-unemotional traits.

PubMed

Mills-Koonce, William R; Wagner, Nicholas J; Willoughby, Michael T; Stifter, Cynthia; Blair, Clancy; Granger, Douglas A

2015-02-01

Approximately one third of children who meet criteria for conduct problems (CP) are also characterized by elevated callous-unemotional (CU) traits. This subgroup is at elevated risk for more pervasive and extreme levels of later antisocial behavior and has been characterized by a fearlessness temperament and blunted stress psychophysiology at older ages. The objective of this study was to examine group differences in fear reactivity and stress psychophysiology in infancy among children classified as having CP with CU (CP + CU), CP without CU (CP only), or no CP in later childhood. A birth cohort study (n = 1,292) was followed longitudinally from birth through first grade. Behavioral fear, baseline heart period (HP) and respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), and pretask, 20-min posttask, and 40-min posttask salivary cortisol were assessed at 6 and 15 months of age around a fear challenge task. CP and CU were assessed by maternal report at first grade and children were classified into CP and CU groups if they scored in the upper 10(th) percentile of these ratings. No group differences were observed in children at 6 months of age. However, at 15 months of age children with later CP + CU displayed greater high-intensity fear behavior, higher pretask and overall cortisol levels, and lower levels of HP and RSA compared to children with CP only and children with no CP. The discrepancy between the biobehavioral correlates of conduct problems with callous-unemotional traits in infancy and those reported from studies of older children and adults suggests that the etiology of this behavioral phenotype may be more complex than a simple genetic maturation model. © 2014 The Authors. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. © 2014 Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.

The Impact of Prenatal Maternal Risk, Fearless Temperament and Early Parenting on Adolescent Callous-Unemotional Traits: A 14-Year Longitudinal Investigation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barker, Edward D.; Oliver, Bonamy R.; Viding, Essi; Salekin, Randall T.; Maughan, Barbara

2011-01-01

Objective: Proposals have been submitted to the DSM-V for the addition of a callous-unemotional (CU) specifier for conduct problem (CP) youth (CP/CU). While the addition of such a diagnostic category may aid in the identification of homogeneous CP subtypes, evidence on risks for the development of CP/CU remains limited. The present study sought to…

Using self-reported callous-unemotional traits to cross-nationally assess the DSM-5 'With Limited Prosocial Emotions' specifier.

PubMed

Kimonis, Eva R; Fanti, Kostas A; Frick, Paul J; Moffitt, Terrie E; Essau, Cecilia; Bijttebier, Patricia; Marsee, Monica A

2015-11-01

The presence of callous-unemotional (CU) traits designates an important subgroup of antisocial youth at risk for severe, persistent, and impairing conduct problems. As a result, the fifth revision of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual includes a specifier for youth meeting diagnostic criteria for Conduct Disorder who show elevated CU traits. The current study evaluated the DSM-5 criteria using Item Response Theory (IRT) analyses and evaluated two methods for using a self-report measure of CU traits to make this diagnosis. The sample included 2257 adolescent (M age = 15.64, SD = 1.69 years) boys (53%) and girls (47%) from community and incarcerated settings in the United States and the European countries of Belgium, Germany, and Cyprus. IRT analyses suggested that four- or eight-item sets from the self-report measure (comparable to the symptoms used by the DSM-5 specifier) provided good model fit, suggesting that they assess a single underlying CU construct. Further, the most stringent method of scoring the self-report scale (i.e. taking only the most extreme responses) to approximate symptom presence provided the best discrimination in IRT analyses, showed reasonable prevalence rates of the specifier, and designated community adolescents who were highly antisocial, whereas the less stringent method best discriminated detained youth. Refined self-report scales developed on the basis of IRT findings provided good assessments of most of the symptoms used in the DSM-5 criteria. These scales may be used as one component of a multimethod assessment of the 'With Limited Prosocial Emotions' specifier for Conduct Disorder. © 2014 Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.

Dark personality traits and impulsivity among adolescents: Differential links to problem behaviors and family relations.

PubMed

Dubas, Judith Semon; Baams, Laura; Doornwaard, Suzan M; van Aken, Marcel A G

2017-10-01

Research on how dark personality traits develop and relate to risky behaviors and family relations during adolescence is scarce. This study used a person-oriented approach to examine (a) whether distinct groups of adolescents could be identified based on their developmental profiles of callous-unemotional (CU), grandiose manipulative (GM), and dysfunctional impulsivity (DI) traits and (b) whether these groups differ in their problem behaviors and parent-adolescent relationship quality. Latent class growth analyses on 4-wave data of 1,131 Dutch adolescents revealed 3 personality profiles: (1) a dark impulsive group (13.9%), with high scores on all 3 traits (CU, GM, and DI) that were stable over time; (2) an impulsive group (26.1%), with high and increasing levels of impulsivity and relatively low scores on CU and GM; and (3) and a low risk group (60.0%), with relatively low levels on all 3 personality characteristics, with impulsivity decreasing over time. Compared with adolescents in the low risk group, adolescents in the dark impulsive and impulsive groups reported higher initial levels of substance use, sexual risk behaviors, permissive sexual attitudes, parent-adolescent conflict, and lower parent-adolescent satisfaction, as well as greater increases in sexual risk behavior over time. Compared with adolescents in the impulsive group, those in the dark impulsive group showed the highest levels of risk behaviors. Hence, dark personality traits coupled with impulsivity may be indicative of an earlier and more severe trajectory of problem behaviors that may differ from the trajectory of youth who are only impulsive. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Differential associations of early callous-unemotional, oppositional, and ADHD behaviors: multiple domains within early-starting conduct problems?

PubMed

Waller, Rebecca; Hyde, Luke W; Grabell, Adam S; Alves, Martha L; Olson, Sheryl L

2015-06-01

Early-starting child conduct problems (CP) are linked to the development of persistent antisocial behavior. Researchers have theorized multiple pathways to CP and that CP comprise separable domains, marked by callous-unemotional (CU) behavior, oppositional behavior, or ADHD symptoms. However, a lack of empirical evidence exists from studies that have examined whether there are unique correlates of these domains. We examined differential correlates of CU, oppositional, and ADHD behaviors during the preschool years to test their potentially distinct nomological networks. Multimethod data, including parent and teacher reports and observations of child behavior, were drawn from a prospective, longitudinal study of children assessed at age 3 and age 6 (N = 240; 48% female). Dimensions of CU, oppositional, and ADHD behaviors were separable within Confirmatory Factor Analyses across mother and father reports. There were differential associations between CU, oppositional, and ADHD behaviors and socioemotional, cognitive, and behavioral outcomes: CU behavior was uniquely related to lower moral regulation, guilt, and empathy. ADHD was uniquely related to lower attentional focusing and observed effortful control. Finally, CU behavior uniquely predicted increases in teacher-reported externalizing from ages 3-6 over and above covariates, and ADHD and oppositional behavior. Consistent with theory, dimensions of CU, ADHD, and oppositional behavior demonstrated separable nomological networks representing separable facets within early-starting CP. © 2014 Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.

Fear-Conditioning Mechanisms Associated with Trait Vulnerability to Anxiety in Humans

PubMed Central

Indovina, Iole; Robbins, Trevor W.; Núñez-Elizalde, Anwar O.; Dunn, Barnaby D.; Bishop, Sonia J.

2011-01-01

Summary Investigations of fear conditioning in rodents and humans have illuminated the neural mechanisms underlying cued and contextual fear. A critical question is how personality dimensions such as trait anxiety act through these mechanisms to confer vulnerability to anxiety disorders, and whether humans' ability to overcome acquired fears depends on regulatory skills not characterized in animal models. In a neuroimaging study of fear conditioning in humans, we found evidence for two independent dimensions of neurocognitive function associated with trait vulnerability to anxiety. The first entailed increased amygdala responsivity to phasic fear cues. The second involved impoverished ventral prefrontal cortical (vPFC) recruitment to downregulate both cued and contextual fear prior to omission (extinction) of the aversive unconditioned stimulus. These two dimensions may contribute to symptomatology differences across anxiety disorders; the amygdala mechanism affecting the development of phobic fear and the frontal mechanism influencing the maintenance of both specific fears and generalized anxiety. PMID:21315265

Emotional Abilities in Children with Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD): Impairments in Perspective-Taking and Understanding Mixed Emotions are Associated with High Callous-Unemotional Traits.

PubMed

O'Kearney, Richard; Salmon, Karen; Liwag, Maria; Fortune, Clare-Ann; Dawel, Amy

2017-04-01

Most studies of emotion abilities in disruptive children focus on emotion expression recognition. This study compared 74 children aged 4-8 years with ODD to 45 comparison children (33 healthy; 12 with an anxiety disorder) on behaviourally assessed measures of emotion perception, emotion perspective-taking, knowledge of emotions causes and understanding ambivalent emotions and on parent-reported cognitive and affective empathy. Adjusting for child's sex, age and expressive language ODD children showed a paucity in attributing causes to emotions but no other deficits relative to the comparison groups. ODD boys with high levels of callous-unemotional traits (CU) (n = 22) showed deficits relative to low CU ODD boys (n = 25) in emotion perspective-taking and in understanding ambivalent emotions. Low CU ODD boys did not differ from the healthy typically developing boys (n = 12). Impairments in emotion perceptive-taking and understanding mixed emotions in ODD boys are associated with the presence of a high level of CU.

High spin polarization and the origin of unique ferromagnetic ground state in CuFeSb

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sirohi, Anshu; Saha, Preetha; Gayen, Sirshendu

CuFeSb is isostructural to the ferro-pnictide and chalcogenide superconductors and it is one of the few materials in the family that are known to stabilize in a ferromagnetic ground state. Majority of the members of this family are either superconductors or antiferromagnets. Therefore, CuFeSb may be used as an ideal source of spin polarized current in spin-transport devices involving pnictide and the chalcogenide superconductors. However, for that the Fermi surface of CuFeSb needs to be sufficiently spin polarized. In this paper we report direct measurement of transport spin polarization in CuFeSb by spin-resolved Andreev reflection spectroscopy. From a number ofmore » measurements using multiple superconducting tips we found that the intrinsic transport spin polarization in CuFeSb is high (∼47%). In order to understand the unique ground state of CuFeSb and the origin of large spin polarization at the Fermi level, we have evaluated the spin-polarized band structure of CuFeSb through first principles calculations. Apart from supporting the observed 47% transport spin polarization, such calculations also indicate that the Sb-Fe-Sb angles and the height of Sb from the Fe plane are strikingly different for CuFeSb than the equivalent parameters in other members of the same family thereby explaining the origin of the unique ground state of CuFeSb.« less

Social Problem Solving, Conduct Problems, and Callous-Unemotional Traits in Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Waschbusch, Daniel A.; Walsh, Trudi M.; Andrade, Brendan F.; King, Sara; Carrey, Normand J.

2007-01-01

This study examined the association between social problem solving, conduct problems (CP), and callous-unemotional (CU) traits in elementary age children. Participants were 53 children (40 boys and 13 girls) aged 7-12 years. Social problem solving was evaluated using the Social Problem Solving Test-Revised, which requires children to produce…

Emotional Communication in Families of Conduct Problem Children with High versus Low Callous-Unemotional Traits

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pasalich, Dave S.; Dadds, Mark R.; Vincent, Lucy C.; Cooper, Francesca A.; Hawes, David J.; Brennan, John

2012-01-01

This study examined relationships between parent-child emotional communication and callous-unemotional (CU) traits and conduct problems. References to negative and positive emotions made by clinic-referred boys (3-9 years) and their parents were coded from direct observations of family interactions involving the discussion of shared emotional…

The relationship between psychosocial status, acculturation and country of origin in mid-life Hispanic women: data from the Study of Women's Health Across the Nation (SWAN).

PubMed

Green, R; Santoro, N F; McGinn, A P; Wildman, R P; Derby, C A; Polotsky, A J; Weiss, G

2010-12-01

To test the hypothesis that psychosocial symptomatology differs by country of origin and acculturation among Hispanic women, we examined 419 women, aged 42-52 years at baseline, enrolled in the New Jersey site of the Study of Women's Health Across the Nation (SWAN). Women were categorized into six groups: Central (CA, n = 29) or South American (SA, n = 106), Puerto Rican (PR, n = 56), Dominican (D, n = 42), Cuban (Cu, n = 44) and non-Hispanic Caucasian (NHC, n = 142). Acculturation, depressive symptoms, hostility/cynicism, mistreatment/discrimination, sleep quality, social support, and perceived stress were assessed at baseline. Physical functioning, trait anxiety and anger were assessed at the fourth annual follow-up. Comparisons between Hispanic and non-Hispanic Caucasians used χ², t test or non-parametric alternatives; ANOVA or Kruskal-Wallis testing examined differences among the five Hispanic sub-groups. Multivariable regression models used PR women as the reference group. Hispanic women were overall less educated, less acculturated (p < 0.001 for both) and reported more depressive symptoms, cynicism, perceived stress, and less mistreatment/discrimination than NHCs. Along with D women, PR women reported worse sleep than Cu women (p < 0.01) and more trait anxiety than SA and Cu women (p < 0.01). Yet, PR women were most acculturated (21.4% highly acculturated vs. CA (0.0%), D (4.8%), SA (4.8%) and Cu (2.3%) women; p < 0.001). In regression models, PR women reported depressive symptoms more frequently than D, Cu, or SA women, and reported trait anxiety more frequently than Cu or SA women. Greater acculturation was associated with more favorable psychosocial status, but PR ethnicity was negatively related to psychosocial status. Psychosocial symptomatology among Hispanic women differs by country of origin and the relatively adverse profile of Puerto Rican women is not explained by acculturation.

Unique Roles of Antisocial Personality Disorder and Psychopathic Traits in Distress Tolerance

PubMed Central

Sargeant, Marsha N.; Daughters, Stacey B.; Curtin, John J.; Schuster, Randi; Lejuez, C.W.

2011-01-01

Previous research indicates that individuals with antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) evidence low distress tolerance, which signifies impaired ability to persist in goal-directed behavior during an aversive situation, and is associated with a variety of poor interpersonal and drug use outcomes. Based on theory and research indicating that psychopathic traits are associated with hypo-reactivity in emotional responding, a unique hypothesis emerges where psychopathic traits should have the opposite effect of ASPD and be related to high levels of distress tolerance. In a sample of 107 substance-dependent patients in an inner-city substance use residential treatment facility, this hypothesis was supported. ASPD was related to lower distress tolerance, while psychopathic traits were related to higher distress tolerance, with each contributing unique variance. Findings are discussed in relation to different presentations of distress tolerance as a function of psychopathic traits among those with an ASPD diagnosis. PMID:21668082

Unique roles of antisocial personality disorder and psychopathic traits in distress tolerance.

PubMed

Sargeant, Marsha N; Daughters, Stacey B; Curtin, John J; Schuster, Randi; Lejuez, C W

2011-11-01

Previous research indicates that individuals with antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) evidence low distress tolerance, which signifies impaired ability to persist in goal-directed behavior during an aversive situation, and is associated with a variety of poor interpersonal and drug use outcomes. Based on theory and research indicating that psychopathic traits are associated with hypo-reactivity in emotional responding, a unique hypothesis emerges where psychopathic traits should have the opposite effect of ASPD and be related to high levels of distress tolerance. In a sample of 107 substance-dependent patients in an inner-city substance use residential treatment facility, this hypothesis was supported. ASPD was related to lower distress tolerance, while psychopathic traits were related to higher distress tolerance, with each contributing unique variance. Findings are discussed in relation to different presentations of distress tolerance as a function of psychopathic traits among those with an ASPD diagnosis.

Exploring the clinical utility of the DSM-5 conduct disorder specifier of 'with limited prosocial emotions' in an adolescent inpatient sample.

PubMed

Vanwoerden, Salome; Reuter, Tyson; Sharp, Carla

2016-08-01

With the recent addition of a callous-unemotional (CU) specifier to the diagnosis of conduct disorder (CD) in the DSM-5, studies are needed to evaluate the clinical utility of this specifier and the best ways to identify youth meeting criteria for this specifier in clinical samples. To this end, the current study examined cross-sectional correlates and treatment response across four groups of inpatient adolescents (N=382, ages 12-17): those with CD without the specifier, with CD and the CU specifier, CU alone, and a group of psychiatric controls. We used two different measures to identify adolescents with high levels of CU traits: the Antisocial Process Screening Device (APSD) [1] and the Inventory of Callous-Unemotional Traits (ICU) [2]. Questionnaires and structured interviews were used to evaluate a range of outcomes including presence of baseline levels and treatment outcomes of both externalizing and internalizing problems. Results indicated that the ICU, but not the APSD differentiated between conduct disordered youth with and without the specifier on externalizing behaviors in both cross-sectional relations and treatment response. The results of the current study caution the use of the most frequently used measure to identify the CU specifier, and make suggestions about alternatives. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Characterizing invertebrate traits in wadeable streams of the contiguous US: differences among ecoregions and land uses

USGS Publications Warehouse

Zuellig, Robert E.; Schmidt, Travis S.

2012-01-01

Much is known about invertebrate community traits in basins across Europe, but no comprehensive description of traits exists for the continental US. Little is known about the trait composition of invertebrates in reference or least-disturbed basins of the US, how trait composition varies among ecoregions, or how consistently traits respond to land use. These elements are essential to development of trait-based tools for conservation and assessment of biological integrity. We compared invertebrate traits of least-disturbed basins among ecoregions of the US. Benthic invertebrate data (presence/absence) from 1987 basins were translated into 56 binary traits (e.g., bivoltine, clinger). Basins were classified as least-disturbed, agricultural, or urban, and grouped into 9 ecoregions. Landuse, climatic, physiographic, and hydrologic data were used to describe ecoregions and to evaluate least-disturbed basin quality. The unique habitat template of each ecoregion selected for trait compositions in least-disturbed basins that differed among ecoregions. Among the traits examined, life-history (e.g., voltinism, development) and ecological traits (e.g., rheophily, thermal preference) differed most among ecoregions. Agricultural and urban land uses selected for trait compositions that differed from least-disturbed, but the extent of the differences depended on ecoregion and quality of the least-disturbed basins. No trait compositions unique to specific land uses were found. However, a disturbance syndrome was observed in that the magnitude and direction of trait responses to urban and agricultural land uses were consistent among ecoregions. Each ecoregion had a unique trait composition, but trait compositions could be used to aggregate ecoregions into 3 broad regions: Western Mountains, Plains and Lowlands, and Eastern Highlands. Our results indicate that large-scale trait-based assessment tools for the US will require calibration to account for regional differences in the trait composition of basins and in the quality of least-disturbed basins.

Empathy and Bullying: Exploring the Influence of Callous-Unemotional Traits

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Munoz, Luna C.; Qualter, Pamela; Padgett, Gemma

2011-01-01

Although knowing and feeling the emotions of other people might result in less bullying, we argue that not caring about these feelings will also be important. That is, what good is empathy, if one does not care about the feelings or values of others? We examined self-reports of callous-unemotional traits (CU: Inventory of Callous-Unemotional…

Treatment Response in CP/ADHD Children with Callous/Unemotional Traits

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Haas, Sarah M.; Waschbusch, Daniel A.; Pelham, William E.; King, Sara; Andrade, Brendan F.; Carrey, Normand J.

2011-01-01

The current study examines the role of callous/unemotional (CU) traits in response to treatment among children with conduct problems (CP) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Fifty-four children with CP/ADHD and 16 controls (age = 9.48, SD = 1.58) took part in a summer treatment and research program. Simple correlations showed that…

Construction of a Genetic Linkage Map and Identification of QTLs for Resistance to TSWV in Cultivated Peanut (Arachis hypagea L.)

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

A genetic linkage map is critical for identifying the QTL (quantitative trait loci) underling targeted traits. Over the last few years, progress has been made in marker development from multiple sources enabling the expansion of quality resources needed for genotyping applications in cultivated x cu...

Social Reward Questionnaire—Adolescent Version and its association with callous–unemotional traits

PubMed Central

Neumann, Craig S.; Roberts, Ruth; McCrory, Eamon; Viding, Essi

2017-01-01

During adolescence, social interactions are a potent source of reward. However, no measure of social reward value exists for this age group. In this study, we adapted the adult Social Reward Questionnaire, which we had previously developed and validated, for use with adolescents. Participants aged 11–16 (n = 568; 50% male) completed the Social Reward Questionnaire—Adolescent Version (SRQ-A), alongside measures of personality traits—five-factor model (FFM) and callous–unemotional (CU) traits—for construct validity purposes. A confirmatory factor analysis of the SRQ-A supported a five-factor structure (Comparative Fit Index = 0.90; Root Mean Square Error of Approximation = 0.07), equating to five questionnaire subscales: enjoyment of Admiration, Negative Social Potency, Passivity, Prosocial Interactions and Sociability. Associations with FFM and CU traits were in line with what is seen for adult samples, providing support for the meaning of SRQ-A subscales in adolescents. In particular, adolescents with high levels of CU traits showed an ‘inverted’ pattern of social reward, in which being cruel is enjoyable and being kind is not. Gender invariance was also assessed and was partially supported. The SRQ-A is a valid, reliable measure of individual differences in social reward in adolescents. PMID:28484617

Complex catalytic behaviors of CuTiO x mixed-oxide during CO oxidation

DOE PAGES

Kim, Hyun You; Liu, Ping

2015-09-21

Mixed metal oxides have attracted considerable attention in heterogeneous catalysis due to the unique stability, reactivity, and selectivity. Here, the activity and stability of the CuTiO x monolayer film supported on Cu(111), CuTiO x/Cu(111), during CO oxidation was explored using density functional theory (DFT). The unique structural frame of CuTiO x is able to stabilize and isolate a single Cu + site on the terrace, which is previously proposed active for CO oxidation. Furthermore, it is not the case, where the reaction via both the Langmuir–Hinshelwood (LH) and the Mars-van Krevelen (M-vK) mechanisms are hindered on such single Cu +more » site. Upon the formation of step-edges, the synergy among Cu δ+ sites, TiO x matrix, and Cu(111) is able to catalyze the reaction well. Depending on temperatures and partial pressure of CO and O 2, the surface structure varies, which determines the dominant mechanism. In accordance with our results, the Cu δ+ ion alone does not work well for CO oxidation in the form of single sites, while the synergy among multiple active sites is necessary to facilitate the reaction.« less

Arbuscular mycorrhiza alters metal uptake and the physiological response of Coffea arabica seedlings to increasing Zn and Cu concentrations in soil.

PubMed

Andrade, S A L; Silveira, A P D; Mazzafera, P

2010-10-15

Studies on mycorrhizal symbiosis effects on metal accumulation and plant tolerance are not common in perennial crops under metal stress. The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of mycorrhization on coffee seedlings under Cu and Zn stress. Copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn) uptake and some biochemical and physiological traits were studied in thirty-week old Coffea arabica seedlings, in response to the inoculation with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and to increasing concentrations of Cu or Zn in soil. The experiments were conducted under greenhouse conditions in a 2×4 factorial design (inoculation or not with AMF and 0, 50, 150 and 450mgkg(-1) Cu or 0, 100, 300 and 900mgkg(-1) Zn). Non-mycorrhizal plants maintained a hampered and slow growth even in a soil with appropriate phosphorus (P) levels for this crop. As metal levels increased in soil, a greater proportion of the total absorbed metals were retained by roots. Foliar Cu concentrations increased only in non-mycorrhizal plants, reaching a maximum concentration of 30mgkg(-1) at the highest Cu in soil. Mycorrhization prevented the accumulation of Cu in leaves, and mycorrhizal plants showed higher Cu contents in stems, which indicated a differential Cu distribution in AMF-associated or non-associated plants. Zn distribution and concentrations in different plant organs followed a similar pattern independently of mycorrhization. In mycorrhizal plants, only the highest metal concentrations caused a reduction in biomass, leading to significant changes in some biochemical indicators, such as malondialdehyde, proline and amino acid contents in leaves and also in foliar free amino acid composition. Marked differences in these physiological traits were also found due to mycorrhization. In conclusion, AMF protected coffee seedlings against metal toxicity. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

In Search of Genes Associated with Risk for Psychopathic Tendencies in Children: A Two-Stage Genome-Wide Association Study of Pooled DNA

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Viding, Essi; Hanscombe, Ken B.; Curtis, Charles J. C.; Davis, Oliver S. P.; Meaburn, Emma L.; Plomin, Robert

2010-01-01

Background: Quantitative genetic data from our group indicates that antisocial behaviour (AB) is strongly heritable when coupled with psychopathic, callous-unemotional (CU) personality traits. We have also demonstrated that the genetic influences for AB and CU overlap considerably. We conducted a genome-wide association scan that capitalises on…

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kim, Hyun You; Liu, Ping

Mixed metal oxides have attracted considerable attention in heterogeneous catalysis due to the unique stability, reactivity, and selectivity. Here, the activity and stability of the CuTiO x monolayer film supported on Cu(111), CuTiO x/Cu(111), during CO oxidation was explored using density functional theory (DFT). The unique structural frame of CuTiO x is able to stabilize and isolate a single Cu + site on the terrace, which is previously proposed active for CO oxidation. Furthermore, it is not the case, where the reaction via both the Langmuir–Hinshelwood (LH) and the Mars-van Krevelen (M-vK) mechanisms are hindered on such single Cu +more » site. Upon the formation of step-edges, the synergy among Cu δ+ sites, TiO x matrix, and Cu(111) is able to catalyze the reaction well. Depending on temperatures and partial pressure of CO and O 2, the surface structure varies, which determines the dominant mechanism. In accordance with our results, the Cu δ+ ion alone does not work well for CO oxidation in the form of single sites, while the synergy among multiple active sites is necessary to facilitate the reaction.« less

CuLi2Sn and Cu2LiSn: Characterization by single crystal XRD and structural discussion towards new anode materials for Li-ion batteries.

PubMed

Fürtauer, Siegfried; Effenberger, Herta S; Flandorfer, Hans

2014-12-01

The stannides CuLi 2 Sn (CSD-427095) and Cu 2 LiSn (CSD-427096) were synthesized by induction melting of the pure elements and annealing at 400 °C. The phases were reinvestigated by X-ray powder and single-crystal X-ray diffractometry. Within both crystal structures the ordered CuSn and Cu 2 Sn lattices form channels which host Cu and Li atoms at partly mixed occupied positions exhibiting extensive vacancies. For CuLi 2 Sn, the space group F-43m. was verified (structure type CuHg 2 Ti; a =6.295(2) Å; wR 2 ( F ²)=0.0355 for 78 unique reflections). The 4( c ) and 4( d ) positions are occupied by Cu atoms and Cu+Li atoms, respectively. For Cu 2 LiSn, the space group P 6 3 / mmc was confirmed (structure type InPt 2 Gd; a =4.3022(15) Å, c =7.618(3) Å; wR 2 ( F ²)=0.060 for 199 unique reflections). The Cu and Li atoms exhibit extensive disorder; they are distributed over the partly occupied positions 2( a ), 2( b ) and 4( e ). Both phases seem to be interesting in terms of application of Cu-Sn alloys as anode materials for Li-ion batteries.

Bacteriostatic and anti-collagenolytic dental materials through the incorporation of polyacrylic acid modified CuI nanoparticles

DOEpatents

Renne, Walter George; Mennito, Anthony Samuel; Schmidt, Michael Gerard; Vuthiganon, Jompobe; Chumanov, George

2015-05-19

Provided are antibacterial and antimicrobial surface coatings and dental materials by utilizing the antimicrobial properties of copper chalcogenide and/or copper halide (CuQ, where Q=chalcogens including oxygen, or halogens, or nothing). An antimicrobial barrier is created by incorporation of CuQ nanoparticles of an appropriate size and at a concentration necessary and sufficient to create a unique bioelectrical environment. The unique bioelectrical environment results in biocidal effectiveness through a multi-factorial mechanism comprising a combination of the intrinsic quantum flux of copper (Cu.sup.0, Cu.sup.1+, Cu.sup.2+) ions and the high surface-to-volume electron sink facilitated by the nanoparticle. The result is the constant quantum flux of copper which manifests and establishes the antimicrobial environment preventing or inhibiting the growth of bacteria. The presence of CuQ results in inhibiting or delaying bacterial destruction and endogenous enzymatic breakdown of the zone of resin inter-diffusion, the integrity of which is essential for dental restoration longevity.

Fear-conditioning mechanisms associated with trait vulnerability to anxiety in humans.

PubMed

Indovina, Iole; Robbins, Trevor W; Núñez-Elizalde, Anwar O; Dunn, Barnaby D; Bishop, Sonia J

2011-02-10

Investigations of fear conditioning in rodents and humans have illuminated the neural mechanisms underlying cued and contextual fear. A critical question is how personality dimensions such as trait anxiety act through these mechanisms to confer vulnerability to anxiety disorders, and whether humans' ability to overcome acquired fears depends on regulatory skills not characterized in animal models. In a neuroimaging study of fear conditioning in humans, we found evidence for two independent dimensions of neurocognitive function associated with trait vulnerability to anxiety. The first entailed increased amygdala responsivity to phasic fear cues. The second involved impoverished ventral prefrontal cortical (vPFC) recruitment to downregulate both cued and contextual fear prior to omission (extinction) of the aversive unconditioned stimulus. These two dimensions may contribute to symptomatology differences across anxiety disorders; the amygdala mechanism affecting the development of phobic fear and the frontal mechanism influencing the maintenance of both specific fears and generalized anxiety. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Treating Children with Early-Onset Conduct Problems and Callous-Unemotional Traits: An Empirical Evaluation of KooLKIDS

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Houghton, Stephen; Carroll, Annemaree; Zadow, Corinne; O'connor, Emma Sanders; Hattie, John; Lynn, Sasha

2017-01-01

Children with early-onset conduct problems (EOCP) and callous-unemotional (CU) traits are highly resistant to treatment and cost society significantly more than their healthy counterparts. Employing a multiple baseline design, 13 males (9.0-10.2 years of age) with a history of school suspensions were sequentially introduced to KooLKIDS, a…

Verbal, Facial and Autonomic Responses to Empathy-Eliciting Film Clips by Disruptive Male Adolescents with High versus Low Callous-Unemotional Traits

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

de Wied, Minet; van Boxtel, Anton; Matthys, Walter; Meeus, Wim

2012-01-01

This study examined empathy-related responding in male adolescents with disruptive behavior disorder (DBD), high or low on callous-unemotional (CU) traits. Facial electromyographic (EMG) and heart rate (HR) responses were monitored during exposure to empathy-inducing film clips portraying sadness, anger or happiness. Self-reports were assessed…

Callous-Unemotional Traits in Predicting the Severity and Stability of Conduct Problems and Delinquency

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Frick, Paul J.; Stickle, Timothy R.; Dandreaux, Danielle M.; Farrell, Jamie M.; Kimonis, Eva R.

2005-01-01

The current study tests whether the presence of callous-unemotional (CU) traits designates a group of children with conduct problems who show an especially severe and chronic pattern of conduct problems and delinquency. Ninety-eight children who were selected from a large community screening of school children in grades 3, 4, 6 and 7 were followed…

Neural Bases of Theory of Mind in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders and Children with Conduct Problems and Callous-Unemotional Traits

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

O'Nions, Elizabeth; Sebastian, Catherine L.; McCrory, Eamon; Chantiluke, Kaylita; Happé, Francesca; Viding, Essi

2014-01-01

Individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have difficulty understanding other minds (Theory of Mind; ToM), with atypical processing evident at both behavioural and neural levels. Individuals with conduct problems and high levels of callous-unemotional (CU) traits (CP/HCU) exhibit reduced responsiveness to others' emotions and difficulties…

Assessing Callous-Unemotional Traits in Preschool Children with Disruptive Behavior Problems Using Peer Reports

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Graziano, Paulo A.; Ros, Rosmary; Haas, Sarah; Hart, Katie; Slavec, Janine; Waschbusch, Daniel; Garcia, Alexis

2016-01-01

The goal of this study was to examine the extent to which preschoolers with externalizing behavior problems (EBP) can identify behaviors indicative of callous-unemotional (CU) traits among their peers. Participants for this study included 86 preschool children (69% boys; M[subscript age] = 5.07 years) with at-risk or clinically elevated levels of…

Impairment in Children with and without ADHD: Contributions from Oppositional Defiant Disorder and Callous-Unemotional Traits

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brammer, Whitney A.; Lee, Steve S.

2012-01-01

Objective: To ascertain the association of childhood ADHD and oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) on functional impairment and to test the moderating influence of callous-unemotional (CU) traits. Method: Ethnically diverse 6- to 9-year-old children with (n = 59) and without (n = 47) ADHD were ascertained using multiple methods (i.e., rating scales…

Syntheses and characterizations of two new energetic copper–amine-DNANT complexes and their effects on thermal decomposition of RDX

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Qiu, Qianqian; Xu, Kangzhen, E-mail: xukz@nwu.edu.cn; Department of Chemistry, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Kowloon

Two novel copper complexes of dinitroacetonitrile (DNANT), Cu(NH{sub 3}){sub 4}(DNANT){sub 2} (1) and Cu(en){sub 2}(DNATN){sub 2} (2), have been synthesized for the first time through an unique reaction, and structurally characterized. The single-crystal X-ray structural analysis shows that the Cu{sup 2+} cations in the two complexes share a similar four-coordinated structure, which however does not directly involve the main energetic DNANT{sup −} anion. The differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) study reveals that the two complexes have higher thermal stability and lower sensitivity than the analogous FOX-7 complexes, and exhibit good catalytic action to the decomposition of RDX. - Graphical abstract: Cu(NH{submore » 3}){sub 4}(DNANT){sub 2} (1) and Cu(en){sub 2}(DNATN){sub 2} (2) have been first synthesized through an unique reaction. Cu{sup 2+} ion shares a similar four-coordinated structure in the two complexes. Display Omitted - Highlights: • A new reaction is unexpectedly found, and reaction process was discussed in this work. • Cu(NH{sub 3}){sub 4} (DNANT){sub 2}and Cu(en){sub 2}(DNATN){sub 2} were first synthesized through an unique reaction. • The structures and properties of the two complexes were discussed in detail, and they all present good application performances. • The adjacent amino-hydrazino group in AHDNE exhibits high reactivity. The work is another typical example for the reactivity.« less

An Introduction to Heredity: Part 1

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Powell, Britnie; Malone, Molly; Drits-Esser, Dina; Stark, Louisa A.

2018-01-01

The mechanics by which unique individuals are built from the instructions encoded in DNA is too advanced for elementary-age children. However, students can easily understand that organisms have observable traits and that each individual has a unique combination of traits, ideas that are included in the "Next Generation Science Standards"…

Both trait and state mindfulness predict lower aggressiveness via anger rumination: A multilevel mediation analysis

PubMed Central

Eisenlohr-Moul, Tory A.; Peters, Jessica R.; Pond, Richard S.; DeWall, C. Nathan

2016-01-01

Trait mindfulness, or the capacity for nonjudgmental, present-centered attention, predicts lower aggression in cross-sectional samples, an effect mediated by reduced anger rumination. Experimental work also implicates state mindfulness (i.e., fluctuations around one's typical mindfulness) in aggression. Despite evidence that both trait and state mindfulness predict lower aggression, their relative impact and their mechanisms remain unclear. Higher trait mindfulness and state increases in mindfulness facets may reduce aggression-related outcomes by (1) limiting the intensity of anger, or (2) limiting rumination on anger experiences. The present study tests two hypotheses: First, that both trait and state mindfulness contribute unique variance to lower aggressiveness, and second, that the impact of both trait and state mindfulness on aggressiveness will be uniquely partially mediated by both anger intensity and anger rumination. 86 participants completed trait measures of mindfulness, anger intensity, and anger rumination, then completed diaries for 35 days assessing mindfulness, anger intensity, anger rumination, anger expression, and self-reported and behavioral aggressiveness. Using multilevel zero-inflated regression, we examined unique contributions of trait and state mindfulness facets to daily anger expression and aggressiveness. We also examined the mediating roles of anger intensity and anger rumination at both trait and state levels. Mindfulness facets predicted anger expression and aggressiveness indirectly through anger rumination after controlling for indirect pathways through anger intensity. Individuals with high or fluctuating aggression may benefit from mindfulness training to reduce both intensity of and rumination on anger. PMID:27429667

Environmental risk, Oxytocin Receptor Gene (OXTR) methylation and youth callous-unemotional traits: a 13-year longitudinal study.

PubMed

Cecil, C A M; Lysenko, L J; Jaffee, S R; Pingault, J-B; Smith, R G; Relton, C L; Woodward, G; McArdle, W; Mill, J; Barker, E D

2014-10-01

Youth with high callous-unemotional traits (CU) are at risk for early-onset and persistent conduct problems. Research suggests that there may be different developmental pathways to CU (genetic/constitutional vs environmental), and that the absence or presence of co-occurring internalizing problems is a key marker. However, it is unclear whether such a distinction is valid. Intermediate phenotypes such as DNA methylation, an epigenetic modification regulating gene expression, may help to clarify etiological pathways. This is the first study to examine prospective inter-relationships between environmental risk (prenatal/postnatal) and DNA methylation (birth, age 7 and 9) in the prediction of CU (age 13), for youth low vs high in internalizing problems. We focused on DNA methylation in the vicinity of the oxytocin receptor (OXTR) gene as it has been previously implicated in CU. Participants were 84 youth with early-onset and persistent conduct problems drawn from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children. For youth with low internalizing problems (46%), we found that (i) OXTR methylation at birth associated with higher CU (age 13) as well as decreased experience of victimization during childhood (evocative epigenetic-environment correlation; birth-age 7), (ii) higher prenatal parental risks (maternal psychopathology, criminal behaviors, substance use) associated with higher OXTR methylation at birth and (iii) OXTR methylation levels were more stable across time (birth-age 9). In contrast, for youth with high internalizing problems, CU were associated with prenatal risks of an interpersonal nature (that is, intimate partner violence, family conflict) but not OXTR methylation. Findings support the existence of distinct developmental pathways to CU.

Dysfunctional representation of expected value is associated with reinforcement-based decision-making deficits in adolescents with conduct problems.

PubMed

White, Stuart F; Tyler, Patrick M; Erway, Anna K; Botkin, Mary L; Kolli, Venkata; Meffert, Harma; Pope, Kayla; Blair, James R

2016-08-01

Previous work has shown that patients with conduct problems (CP) show impairments in reinforcement-based decision-making. However, studies with patients have not previously demonstrated any relationships between impairment in any of the neurocomputations underpinning reinforcement-based decision-making and specific symptom sets [e.g. level of CP and/or callous-unemotional (CU) traits]. Seventy-two youths [20 female, mean age = 13.81 (SD = 2.14), mean IQ = 102.34 (SD = 10.99)] from a residential treatment program and the community completed a passive avoidance task while undergoing functional MRI. Greater levels of CP were associated with poorer task performance. Reduced representation of expected values (EV) when making avoidance responses within bilateral anterior insula cortex/inferior frontal gyrus (AIC/iFG) and striatum was associated with greater levels of CP but not CU traits. The current data indicate that difficulties in the use of value information to motivate decisions to avoid suboptimal choices are associated with increased levels of CP (though not severity of CU traits). Moreover, they account for the behavioral deficits observed during reinforcement-based decision-making in youth with CP. In short, an individual's relative failure to utilize value information within AIC/iFG to avoid bad choices is associated with elevated levels of CP. © 2016 Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.

Does Early Childhood Callous-Unemotional Behavior Uniquely Predict Behavior Problems or Callous-Unemotional Behavior in Late Childhood?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Waller, Rebecca; Dishion, Thomas J.; Shaw, Daniel S.; Gardner, Frances; Wilson, Melvin N.; Hyde, Luke W.

2016-01-01

Callous-unemotional (CU) behavior has been linked to behavior problems in children and adolescents. However, few studies have examined whether CU behavior in "early childhood" predicts behavior problems or CU behavior in "late childhood". This study examined whether indicators of CU behavior at ages 2-4 predicted aggression,…

Callous-unemotional, impulsive-irresponsible, and grandiose-manipulative traits: Distinct associations with heart rate, skin conductance, and startle responses to violent and erotic scenes.

PubMed

Fanti, Kostas A; Kyranides, Melina N; Georgiou, Giorgos; Petridou, Maria; Colins, Olivier F; Tuvblad, Catherine; Andershed, Henrik

2017-05-01

The present study aimed to examine whether callous-unemotional, grandiose-manipulative, and impulsive-irresponsible dimensions of psychopathy are differentially related to various affective and physiological measures, assessed at baseline and in response to violent and erotic movie scenes. Data were collected from young adults (N = 101) at differential risk for psychopathic traits. Findings from regression analyses revealed a unique predictive contribution of grandiose-manipulative traits in particular to higher ratings of positive valence for violent scenes. Callous-unemotional traits were uniquely associated with lower levels of sympathy toward victims and lower ratings of fear and sadness during violent scenes. All three psychopathy dimensions and the total psychopathy scale showed negative zero-order correlations with heart rate at baseline, but regression analyses revealed that only grandiose manipulation was uniquely predictive of lower baseline heart rate. Grandiose manipulation was also significantly associated with lower baseline skin conductance. Regarding autonomic activity, findings resulted in a unique negative association between grandiose manipulation and heart rate activity in response to violent scenes. In contrast, the impulsive-irresponsible dimension was positively related with heart rate activity to violent scenes. Finally, findings revealed that only callous-unemotional traits were negatively associated with startle potentiation in response to violent scenes. No associations during erotic scenes were identified. These findings point to unique associations between the three assessed dimensions of psychopathy with physiological measures, indicating that grandiose manipulation is associated with hypoarousal, impulsive irresponsibility with hyperarousal, and callous-unemotional traits with low emotional and fear responses to violent scenes. © 2017 Society for Psychophysiological Research.

Quasi-hexagonal Cu1.5Mn1.5O4 nanoplates decorated on hollow CuO by Kirkendall effect for enhancing lithium storage performance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Peng; Xia, Xifeng; Lei, Wu; Jiao, Xinyan; Lu, Lei; Ouyang, Yu; Hao, Qingli

2018-07-01

Constructing a hierarchical heterogeneous composite is deemed as an effective way to solve the current problems of metal oxides as lithium ion batteries' anodes. In this work, we simultaneously designed the heterogeneous component and structure of the novel hybrid based on Kirkendall effect. The composite was composed of quasi-hexagonal Cu1.5Mn1.5O4 nanoplates as a shell and CuO with voids as a core. The hybrids were characterized by using XRD, FTIR, TEM and SEM. It was found that the heating rate greatly influences the combination form of Cu1.5Mn1.5O4 and CuO. The quasi-hexagonal Cu1.5Mn1.5O4 nanoplates were assembled into branch-like shell decorated on the CuO surface under the low heating rate. However, the high heating rate led to a compact Cu1.5Mn1.5O4 shell, although the shell was also assembled by quasi-hexagonal nanoplates. The reasonable formation mechanism of the unique component and structure was proposed. Such a hybrid with the branch-like shell exhibited the best lithium storage performance. The improved electrochemical performance can be attributed to the unique component and structure. Typically, the inside voids can alleviate the volume change and the hierarchical shell can provide much contact and reaction sites. This work not only opens a new view in constructing heterogeneous hybrid with unique structure by Kirkendall effect, but also can be expanded for many other structure-based applications, such as energy storage, sensors, and heterogeneous catalysts.

Different Paths to Different Strategies? Unique Associations Among Facets of the Dark Triad, Empathy, and Trait Emotional Intelligence.

PubMed

Szabó, Edit; Bereczkei, Tamás

2017-01-01

Emotional deficits, such as limited empathy, are considered a fundamental aspect of the Dark Triad traits (narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy). However, the nature and extent of such deficiencies seem to vary among dark personalities. By applying multidimensional measures of empathy, emotional intelligence, and the Dark Triad, we aimed to investigate in more detail how individuals high in various dark traits understand and evaluate emotions. Results indicated that each trait, and, moreover, each facet thereof entailed unique emotional deficiencies. Narcissism was positively associated with trait emotional intelligence, whereas the secondary factor of psychopathy was associated negatively. With respect to empathy, only primary psychopathy was linked to an overall deficit, while a positive relationship was found between Machiavellianism and the perspective-taking facet of cognitive empathy. We argue that the specific emotional limitations of the Dark Triad traits might contribute to the successful deployment of different socially aversive strategies.

Uniquely confining Cu2S nanoparticles in graphitized carbon fibers for enhanced oxygen evolution reaction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Xiaoqian; Liu, Li; Zhang, Yan; Zhang, Huijuan; Wang, Yu

2017-08-01

Up to now, the literature on Cu2S with specific morphology applied to oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in the electrocatalytic field has been limited. In this work, unique peapod-like Cu2S/C exhibiting superb electrocatalytic performance toward OER is successfully synthesized, by employing Cu(OH)2 nanorods as the template and nontoxic glucose as the carbon source and then annealing with sublimed sulfur. It can be seen that this work explores a new application area for Cu2S. More precisely, the novel morphology contributes to increasing the electrochemical active surface area effectively and promoting contact between the Cu2S nanoparticles and the electrolyte. During electrochemical measurements, the peapod-like Cu2S/C shows enhanced electrocatalytic activity with a low overpotential of 401 mV at the current density of 10 mA cm-2 and a Tafel slope of 52 mV dec-1. More importantly, our material is able to maintain stability for at least 8 h at constant potential and the current loss is negligible after 2000 cycles. Obviously, these striking properties fully demonstrate that the peapod-like Cu2S/C as an efficient catalyst shows great promise for OER.

Relation of Callous-Unemotional Traits to Length of Stay among Youth Hospitalized at a State Psychiatric Inpatient Facility

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stellwagen, Kurt K.; Kerig, Patricia K.

2010-01-01

We examined the association of callous-unemotional (C/U) traits with length of psychiatric hospitalization among two samples each with 50 participants: a group of 7-11 year-olds (39 males and 11 females) receiving services on a children's unit, and a group of 12-17 year-olds (27 males and 23 females) receiving services on an adolescent unit. Our…

Effects of Methylphenidate and Behavior Modification on the Social and Academic Behavior of Children with Disruptive Behavior Disorders: The Moderating Role of Callous/Unemotional Traits

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Waschbusch, Daniel A.; Carrey, Normand J.; Willoughby, Michael T.; King, Sara; Andrade, Brendan F.

2007-01-01

This study examined whether response to behavior modification with and without methylphenidate differed for children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and conduct problems (CP) depending on the presence of callous/unemotional (CU) traits. Participants were 37 children ages 7 to 12, including 19 with ADHD/CP-only and 18 with…

Dual neurocircuitry dysfunctions in disruptive behavior disorders: emotional responding and response inhibition.

PubMed

Hwang, S; Nolan, Z T; White, S F; Williams, W C; Sinclair, S; Blair, R J R

2016-05-01

To determine the functional integrity of the neural systems involved in emotional responding/regulation and response control/inhibition in youth (age 10-18 years) with disruptive behavioral disorders (DBDs: conduct disorder and/or oppositional defiant disorder) as a function of callous-unemotional (CU) traits. Twenty-eight healthy youths and 35 youths with DBD [high CU (HCU), n = 18; low CU (LCU), n = 17] performed the fMRI Affective Stroop task. Participants viewed positive, neutral, and negative images under varying levels of cognitive load. A 3-way ANOVA (group×emotion by task) was conducted on the BOLD response data. Youth with DBD-HCU showed significantly less activation of ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) and amygdala in response to negative stimuli, compared to healthy youth and youth with DBD-LCU. vmPFC responsiveness was inversely related to CU symptoms in DBD. Youth with DBD-LCU showed decreased functional connectivity between amygdala and regions including inferior frontal gyrus in response to emotional stimuli. Youth with DBD (LCU and HCU) additionally showed decreased insula responsiveness to high load (incongruent trials) compared to healthy youth. Insula responsiveness was inversely related to ADHD symptoms in DBD. These data reveal two forms of pathophysiology in DBD. One associated with reduced amygdala and vmPFC responses to negative stimuli and related to increased CU traits. Another associated with reduced insula responses during high load task trials and related to ADHD symptoms. Appropriate treatment will need to be individualized according to the patient's specific pathophysiology.

Omega-3 fatty acids are inversely related to callous and unemotional traits in adolescent boys with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

PubMed

Gow, Rachel V; Vallee-Tourangeau, Frederic; Crawford, Michael Angus; Taylor, Eric; Ghebremeskel, Kebreab; Bueno, Allain A; Hibbeln, Joseph R; Sumich, Alexander; Rubia, Katya

2013-06-01

A number of research studies have reported abnormal plasma fatty acid profiles in children with ADHD along with some benefit of n-3 to symptoms of ADHD. However, it is currently unclear whether (lower) long chain-polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFAs) are related to ADHD pathology or to associated behaviours. The aim of this study was to test whether (1) ADHD children have abnormal plasma LC-PUFA levels and (2) ADHD symptoms and associated behaviours are correlated with LC-PUFA levels. Seventy-two, male children with (n=29) and without a clinical diagnosis of ADHD (n=43) were compared in their plasma levels of LC-PUFA. Plasma DHA was higher in the control group prior to statistical correction. Callous-unemotional (CU) traits were found to be significantly negatively related to both eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), and total omega-3 in the ADHD group. The findings unveil for the first time that CU and anti-social traits in ADHD are associated with lower omega-3 levels. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The contribution of the left anterior ventrolateral temporal lobe to the retrieval of personal semantics.

PubMed

Grilli, Matthew D; Bercel, John J; Wank, Aubrey A; Rapcsak, Steven Z

2018-06-04

Autobiographical facts and personal trait knowledge are conceptualized as distinct types of personal semantics, but the cognitive and neural mechanisms that separate them remain underspecified. One distinction may be their level of specificity, with autobiographical facts reflecting idiosyncratic conceptual knowledge and personal traits representing basic level category knowledge about the self. Given the critical role of the left anterior ventrolateral temporal lobe (AVTL) in the storage and retrieval of semantic information about unique entities, we hypothesized that knowledge of autobiographical facts may depend on the integrity of this region to a greater extent than personal traits. To provide neuropsychological evidence relevant to this issue, we investigated personal semantics, semantic knowledge of non-personal unique entities, and episodic memory in two individuals with well-defined left (MK) versus right (DW) AVTL lesions. Relative to controls, MK demonstrated preserved personal trait knowledge but impaired "experience-far" (i.e., spatiotemporal independent) autobiographical fact knowledge, semantic memory for non-personal unique entities, and episodic memory. In contrast, both experience-far autobiographical facts and personal traits were spared in DW, whereas episodic memory and aspects of semantic memory for non-personal unique entities were impaired. These findings support the notion that autobiographical facts and personal traits have distinct cognitive features and neural mechanisms. They also suggest a common organizing principle for personal and non-personal semantics, namely the specificity of such knowledge to an entity, which is reflected in the contribution of the left AVTL to retrieval. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The five-factor model of personality and borderline personality disorder: a genetic analysis of comorbidity.

PubMed

Distel, Marijn A; Trull, Timothy J; Willemsen, Gonneke; Vink, Jacqueline M; Derom, Catherine A; Lynskey, Michael; Martin, Nicholas G; Boomsma, Dorret I

2009-12-15

Recently, the nature of personality disorders and their relationship with normal personality traits has received extensive attention. The five-factor model (FFM) of personality, consisting of the personality traits neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness, is one of the proposed models to conceptualize personality disorders as maladaptive variants of continuously distributed personality traits. The present study examined the phenotypic and genetic association between borderline personality and FFM personality traits. Data were available for 4403 monozygotic twins, 4425 dizygotic twins, and 1661 siblings from 6140 Dutch, Belgian, and Australian families. Broad-sense heritability estimates for neuroticism, agreeableness, conscientiousness, extraversion, openness to experience, and borderline personality were 43%, 36%, 43%, 47%, 54%, and 45%, respectively. Phenotypic correlations between borderline personality and the FFM personality traits ranged from .06 for openness to experience to .68 for neuroticism. Multiple regression analyses showed that a combination of high neuroticism and low agreeableness best predicted borderline personality. Multivariate genetic analyses showed the genetic factors that influence individual differences in neuroticism, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and extraversion account for all genetic liability to borderline personality. Unique environmental effects on borderline personality, however, were not completely shared with those for the FFM traits (33% is unique to borderline personality). Borderline personality shares all genetic variation with neuroticism, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and extraversion. The unique environmental influences specific to borderline personality may cause individuals with a specific pattern of personality traits to cross a threshold and develop borderline personality.

What's in a name? Intolerance of uncertainty, other uncertainty-relevant constructs, and their differential relations to worry and generalized anxiety disorder.

PubMed

Koerner, Naomi; Mejia, Teresa; Kusec, Andrea

2017-03-01

A number of studies have examined the association of intolerance of uncertainty (IU) to trait worry and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). However, few studies have examined the extent of overlap between IU and other psychological constructs that bear conceptual resemblance to IU, despite the fact that IU-type constructs have been discussed and examined extensively within psychology and other disciplines. The present study investigated (1) the associations of IU, trait worry, and GAD status to a negative risk orientation, trait curiosity, indecisiveness, perceived constraints, self-oriented and socially prescribed perfectionism, intolerance of ambiguity, the need for predictability, and the need for order and structure and (2) whether IU is a unique correlate of trait worry and of the presence versus absence of Probable GAD, when overlap with other uncertainty-relevant constructs is accounted for. N = 255 adults completed self-report measures of the aforementioned constructs. Each of the constructs was significantly associated with IU. Only IU, and a subset of the other uncertainty-relevant constructs were correlated with trait worry or distinguished the Probable GAD group from the Non-GAD group. IU was the strongest unique correlate of trait worry and of the presence versus absence of Probable GAD. Indecisiveness, self-oriented perfectionism and the need for predictability were also unique correlates of trait worry or GAD status. Implications of the findings are discussed, in particular as they pertain to the definition, conceptualization, and cognitive-behavioral treatment of IU in GAD.

The role of trait mindfulness in the pain experience of adolescents.

PubMed

Petter, Mark; Chambers, Christine T; McGrath, Patrick J; Dick, Bruce D

2013-12-01

Trait mindfulness appears to mitigate pain among adult clinical populations and has a unique relationship with pain catastrophizing. However, little is understood about this phenomenon among adolescents. The association between trait mindfulness and pain in both real-world and experimental contexts was examined in a community sample of adolescents. Participants were 198 adolescents who completed measures of trait mindfulness, pain catastrophizing, and pain interference, as well as an interview on day-to-day pain before undergoing an acute experimental pain task. Following the task, they provided ratings of pain intensity and state catastrophizing. Results showed that with regard to day-to-day pains, mindfulness was a significant and unique predictor of pain interference, and this relationship was partially mediated by pain catastrophizing. Mindfulness also had an indirect relationship with experimental pain intensity and tolerance. These associations were mediated by catastrophizing during the pain task. These findings highlight the association between trait mindfulness and both real-world and experimental pain and offer insight into how mindfulness may affect pain among youth. Findings are discussed in the context of current psychological models of pediatric pain and future avenues for research. This article highlights the association between trait mindfulness and pain variables among adolescents in both real-world and experimental pain settings. These findings offer further evidence of the unique relationship between trait mindfulness and pain catastrophizing in affecting pain variables across pain contexts and populations. Copyright © 2013 American Pain Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Atomistic Modeling of Surface and Bulk Properties of Cu, Pd and the Cu-Pd System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bozzolo, Guillermo; Garces, Jorge E.; Noebe, Ronald D.; Abel, Phillip; Mosca, Hugo O.; Gray, Hugh R. (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

The BFS (Bozzolo-Ferrante-Smith) method for alloys is applied to the study of the Cu-Pd system. A variety of issues are analyzed and discussed, including the properties of pure Cu or Pd crystals (surface energies, surface relaxations), Pd/Cu and Cu/Pd surface alloys, segregation of Pd (or Cu) in Cu (or Pd), concentration dependence of the lattice parameter of the high temperature fcc CuPd solid solution, the formation and properties of low temperature ordered phases, and order-disorder transition temperatures. Emphasis is made on the ability of the method to describe these properties on the basis of a minimum set of BFS universal parameters that uniquely characterize the Cu-Pd system.

Mindfulness moderates the relationship between aggression and Antisocial Personality Disorder traits: Preliminary investigation with an offender sample.

PubMed

Velotti, Patrizia; Garofalo, Carlo; D'Aguanno, Mario; Petrocchi, Chiara; Popolo, Raffaele; Salvatore, Giampaolo; Dimaggio, Giancarlo

2016-01-01

Poor mentalizing has been described as a characteristic of Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD), along with the well-established role of aggressiveness. In the current study, we tested this hypothesis focusing on a specific aspect of mentalization (i.e., mindfulness). We explored the unique and joint contribution of aggression dimensions and mindfulness facets to ASPD traits in an offender sample (N=83). Mindfulness deficits were associated with ASPD traits, and a significant unique association emerged between difficulties in acting with awareness and ASPD traits. Likewise, physical aggression confirmed its association with ASPD traits. Moderation analyses revealed that mindfulness interacted with aggression in predicting ASPD. Specifically, at low levels of mindfulness, the association between aggression and ASPD dropped to nonsignificance. Results suggest that fostering self-mentalizing is a relevant treatment target when treating offenders with ASPD. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Integrating content and structure aspects of the self: traits, values, and self-improvement.

PubMed

Roccas, Sonia; Sagiv, Lilach; Oppenheim, Shani; Elster, Andrey; Gal, Avigail

2014-04-01

Research on the structure of the self has mostly developed separately from research on its content. Taking an integrative approach, we studied two structural aspects of the self associated with self-improvement--self-discrepancies and perceived mutability--by focusing on two content areas, traits and values. In Studies 1A-C, 337 students (61% female) reported self-discrepancies in values and traits, with the finding that self-discrepancies in values are smaller than in traits. In Study 2 (80 students, 41% female), we experimentally induced either high or low mutability and measured perceived mutability of traits and values. We found that values are perceived as less mutable than traits. In Study 3, 99 high school students (60% female) reported their values, traits, and the extent to which they wish to change them. We found that values predict the wish to change traits, whereas traits do not predict the wish to change values. In Study 4, 172 students (47.7% female) were assigned to one of four experimental conditions in which they received feedback denoting either uniqueness or similarity to others, on either their values or their traits. The results indicated that feedback that one's values (but not traits) are unique affected self-esteem. Integrating between theories of content and structure of the self can contribute to the development of both. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Engineering hierarchical Diatom@CuO@MnO2 hybrid for high performance supercapacitor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Yan; Guo, Wan Wan; Zheng, Tian Xu; Zhang, Yu Xin; Fan, Xing

2018-01-01

A rational and hierarchical Diatom@CuO@MnO2 hybrid was fabricated via a facile electroless copper plating technology, following by a one-pot hydrothermal reaction with KMnO4. Such unique architecture acts as a supercapacitor electrode, which exhibits a high specific capacitance (240 F g-1 at a current density of 0.5 A g-1), good rate capability (58.3% retention when the current density increases from 0.5 to 5 A g-1), and excellent electrochemical cycling stability (91.2% retention of the initial specific capacitance after 4000 cycles at a current density of 2 A g-1). The impressive electrochemical performance of this Diatom@CuO@MnO2 electrode ascribed to the synergistic effect between the CuO particles and MnO2 nanosheets. Therefore, it can be expected that this unique Diatom@CuO@MnO2 electrode may have great promise for the application in supercapacitors.

Superthermostability of nanoscale TIC-reinforced copper alloys manufactured by a two-step ball-milling process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Fenglin; Li, Yunping; Xu, Xiandong; Koizumi, Yuichiro; Yamanaka, Kenta; Bian, Huakang; Chiba, Akihiko

2015-12-01

A Cu-TiC alloy, with nanoscale TiC particles highly dispersed in the submicron-grained Cu matrix, was manufactured by a self-developed two-step ball-milling process on Cu, Ti and C powders. The thermostability of the composite was evaluated by high-temperature isothermal annealing treatments, with temperatures ranging from 727 to 1273 K. The semicoherent nanoscale TiC particles with Cu matrix, mainly located along the grain boundaries, were found to exhibit the promising trait of blocking grain boundary migrations, which leads to a super-stabilized microstructures up to approximately the melting point of copper (1223 K). Furthermore, the Cu-TiC alloys after annealing at 1323 K showed a slight decrease in Vickers hardness as well as the duplex microstructure due to selective grain growth, which were discussed in terms of hardness contributions from various mechanisms.

Copper-Zinc Superoxide Dismutase: A Unique Biological "Ligand" for Bioinorganic Studies.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Valentine, Joan Selverstone; de Freitas, Duarte Mota

1985-01-01

Discusses superoxide dismutase (SOD) research and the properties of copper, zinc (Cu, Zn)-SOD. Emphasizes the controversy concerning the role of Cu,Zn-SOD and other SOD enzymes as protective agents in reactions involving dioxygen metabolism, and the properties of Cu, Zn-SOD that make it an interesting biological ligand for physical studies of…

Heritability of personality disorder traits: a twin study.

PubMed

Jang, K L; Livesley, W J; Vernon, P A; Jackson, D N

1996-12-01

Genetic and non-genetic influences on the hierarchy of traits that delineate personality disorder as measured by the Dimensional Assessment of Personality Problems (DAPP-DQ) scale were examined using data from a sample of 483 volunteer twin pairs (236 monozygotic pairs and 247 dizygotic pairs). The DAPP-DQ assesses four higher-order factors, 18 basic dimensions and 69 facet traits of personality disorder. The correlation coefficients for monozygotic and dizygotic twin pairs ranged from 0.26 to 0.56 and from 0.03 to 0.41, respectively. Broad heritability estimates ranged from 0 to 58% (median value 45%). Additive genetic effects and unique environmental effects emerged as the primary influences on these scales, with unique environmental influences accounting for the largest proportion of the variance for most traits at all levels of the hierarchy.

Callous-unemotional traits moderate the association between children's early moral understanding and aggression: A short-term longitudinal study.

PubMed

Jambon, Marc; Smetana, Judith G

2018-05-01

Drawing on the framework of social domain theory, this multi-method, multi-informant longitudinal study examined whether callous-unemotional (CU) tendencies moderated the association between U.S. 4 to 7 year olds' (n = 135; Mage = 5.65, 50% male; 75% White) ability to differentiate hypothetical, prototypical moral and conventional transgressions along theoretical criteria and teacher (n = 49) and parent (n = 128, 91% mothers) ratings of physical aggression. Deficits in domain distinction ability were associated with greater teacher-reported aggression both concurrently and 9 months later, but only for children high in CU traits. No main effects or interactions were found for parent reports. These findings build on a growing body of research demonstrating that children who use aggression in a deliberate and callous manner show deficits in their basic understanding of moral norms. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Evolution of Grain Boundary Precipitates in an Al-Cu-Li Alloy During Aging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ott, Noémie; Kairy, Shravan K.; Yan, Yuanming; Birbilis, Nick

2017-01-01

The grain boundary microstructure of Al-Cu-Li alloy AA2050 was investigated for different isothermal aging times to rationalize intergranular corrosion (IGC) characteristics. In the underaged condition, the dominant grain boundary precipitates are fine T1 (Al2CuLi). Extended aging revealed that grain boundaries were decorated by large T1 precipitates and S' phase (Al2CuMg), with S' growth not dimensionally constrained. Such a transition in the precipitate type at grain boundaries is a unique feature of the Al-Cu-Li system.

Neuroimaging findings in disruptive behavior disorders.

PubMed

Baker, Rosalind H; Clanton, Roberta L; Rogers, Jack C; De Brito, Stéphane A

2015-08-01

Decades of research have shown that youths with disruptive behavior disorders (DBD) are a heterogeneous population. Over the past 20 years, researchers have distinguished youths with DBD as those displaying high (DBD/HCU) versus low (DBD/LCU) callous-unemotional (CU) traits. These traits include flat affect and reduced empathy and remorse, and are associated with more severe, varied, and persistent patterns of antisocial behavior and aggression. Conduct problems in youths with HCU and LCU are thought to reflect distinct causal vulnerabilities, with antisocial behavior in youths with DBD/HCU reflecting a predominantly genetic etiology, while antisocial behavior in youths with DBD/LCU is associated primarily with environmental influences. Here we selectively review recent functional (fMRI) and structural (sMRI) magnetic resonance imaging research on DBD, focusing particularly on the role of CU traits. First, fMRI studies examining the neural correlates of affective stimuli, emotional face processing, empathy, theory of mind, morality, and decision-making in DBD are discussed. This is followed by a review of the studies investigating brain structure and structural connectivity in DBD. Next, we highlight the need to further investigate females and the role of sex differences in this population. We conclude the review by identifying potential clinical implications of this research.

Local plant responses to global problems: Dactylis glomerata responses to different traffic pollutants on roadsides.

PubMed

Jiménez, M D; de Torre, R; Mola, I; Casado, M A; Balaguer, L

2018-04-15

The growing number of road vehicles is a major source of regional and global atmospheric pollution increasing concentrations of CO 2 in the air, and levels of metals in air and soil. Nevertheless, the effects of these pollutants on plants growing at roadsides are poorly documented. We carried out an observational study of unmanipulated plants growing by the road, to identify the morpho-physiological responses in a perennial grass Dactylis glomerata. Firstly, we wanted to know the general effect of traffic intensity and ambient CO 2 and its interactions on different plant traits. Accordingly, we analyzed the photosynthetic response by field A/Ci Response Curves, SLA, pigment pools, foliar nitrogen, carbohydrates and morphological traits in plants at three distances to the road. Secondly, we wanted to know if Dactylis glomerata plants can accumulate metals present on the roadside (Pb, Zn, Cu, and Sr) in their tissues and rhizosphere, and the effect of these metals on morphological traits. The MANCOVA whole model results shown: 1) a significant effect of road ambient CO 2 concentration on morphological traits (not affected by traffic intensity, P interaction CO2 x traffic intensity >0.05), that was mainly driven by a significant negative relationship between the inflorescence number and ambient CO 2 ; 2) a positive and significant relationship between ambient CO 2 and the starch content in leaves (unaffected by traffic intensity); 3) a reduction in J max (electron transport rate) at high traffic intensity. These lines of evidences suggest a decreased photosynthetic capacity due to high traffic intensity and high levels of ambient CO 2 . In addition, Pb, Cu, Zn and Sr were detected in Dactylis glomerata tissues, and Cu accumulated in roots. Finally, we observed that Dactylis glomerata individuals growing at the roadside under high levels of CO 2 and in the presence of metal pollutants, reduced their production of inflorescences. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Unraveling the evolution of uniquely human cognition.

PubMed

MacLean, Evan L

2016-06-07

A satisfactory account of human cognitive evolution will explain not only the psychological mechanisms that make our species unique, but also how, when, and why these traits evolved. To date, researchers have made substantial progress toward defining uniquely human aspects of cognition, but considerably less effort has been devoted to questions about the evolutionary processes through which these traits have arisen. In this article, I aim to link these complementary aims by synthesizing recent advances in our understanding of what makes human cognition unique, with theory and data regarding the processes of cognitive evolution. I review evidence that uniquely human cognition depends on synergism between both representational and motivational factors and is unlikely to be accounted for by changes to any singular cognitive system. I argue that, whereas no nonhuman animal possesses the full constellation of traits that define the human mind, homologies and analogies of critical aspects of human psychology can be found in diverse nonhuman taxa. I suggest that phylogenetic approaches to the study of animal cognition-which can address questions about the selective pressures and proximate mechanisms driving cognitive change-have the potential to yield important insights regarding the processes through which the human cognitive phenotype evolved.

Small-sized PdCu nanocapsules on 3D graphene for high-performance ethanol oxidation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

HuThese Authors Contributed Equally To This Work., Chuangang; Zhai, Xiangquan; Zhao, Yang; Bian, Ke; Zhang, Jing; Qu, Liangti; Zhang, Huimin; Luo, Hongxia

2014-02-01

A one-pot solvothermal process has been developed for direct preparation of PdCu nanocapsules (with a size of ca. 10 nm) on three-dimensional (3D) graphene. Due to the 3D pore-rich network of graphene and the unique hollow structure of PdCu nanocapsules with a wall thickness of ca. 3 nm, the newly-prepared PdCu/3D graphene hybrids activated electrochemically have great electrocatalytic activity towards ethanol oxidation in alkaline media, much better than single-phase Pd and commercial E-TEK 20% Pt/C catalysts promising for application in direct ethanol fuel cells.A one-pot solvothermal process has been developed for direct preparation of PdCu nanocapsules (with a size of ca. 10 nm) on three-dimensional (3D) graphene. Due to the 3D pore-rich network of graphene and the unique hollow structure of PdCu nanocapsules with a wall thickness of ca. 3 nm, the newly-prepared PdCu/3D graphene hybrids activated electrochemically have great electrocatalytic activity towards ethanol oxidation in alkaline media, much better than single-phase Pd and commercial E-TEK 20% Pt/C catalysts promising for application in direct ethanol fuel cells. Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available. See DOI: 10.1039/c3nr05722d

Reversible conversion of valence-tautomeric copper metal-organic frameworks dependent single-crystal-to-single-crystal oxidation/reduction: a redox-switchable catalyst for C-H bonds activation reaction.

PubMed

Huang, Chao; Wu, Jie; Song, Chuanjun; Ding, Ran; Qiao, Yan; Hou, Hongwei; Chang, Junbiao; Fan, Yaoting

2015-06-28

Upon single-crystal-to-single-crystal (SCSC) oxidation/reduction, reversible structural transformations take place between the anionic porous zeolite-like Cu(I) framework and a topologically equivalent neutral Cu(I)Cu(II) mixed-valent framework. The unique conversion behavior of the Cu(I) framework endowed it as a redox-switchable catalyst for the direct arylation of heterocycle C-H bonds.

Factorial Structure of the French Version of the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale among the Elderly

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gana, Kamel; Alaphilippe, Daniel; Bailly, Nathalie

2005-01-01

Ten different confirmatory factor analysis models, including ones with correlated traits correlated methods, correlated traits correlated uniqueness, and correlated traits uncorrelated methods, were proposed to examine the factorial structure of the French version of the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (Rosenberg, 1965). In line with previous studies…

First fossil gravid turtle provides insight into the evolution of reproductive traits in turtles.

PubMed

Zelenitsky, Darla K; Therrien, Franc Ois; Joyce, Walter G; Brinkman, Donald B

2008-12-23

Here we report on the first discovery of shelled eggs inside the body cavity of a fossil turtle and on an isolated egg clutch, both referable to the Cretaceous turtle Adocus. These discoveries provide a unique opportunity to gain insight into the reproductive traits of an extinct turtle and to understand the evolution of such traits among living turtles. The gravid adult and egg clutch indicate that Adocus laid large clutches of rigid-shelled spherical eggs and established their nests near rivers, traits that are shared by its closest living relatives, the soft-shelled turtles. Adocus eggshell, however, was probably more rigid than that of living turtles, based on its great thickness and structure, features that may represent unique adaptations to intense predation or to arid nest environments. In light of the reproductive traits observed in Adocus, the distribution of reproductive traits among turtles reveals that large clutches of rigid-shelled eggs are primitive for hidden-necked turtles (cryptodirans) and that spherical eggs may have evolved independently within this group.

Analysis of scattering lengths in Co/Cu/Co and Co/Cu/Co/Cu spin-valves using a Ru barrier

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Strijkers, G. J.; Willekens, M. M. H.; Swagten, H. J. M.; de Jonge, W. J. M.

1996-10-01

We use uncoupled Co/Cu/Co and Co/Cu/Co/Cu spin-valve structures with a Ru barrier shifted through the top Co and Cu layer, respectively, to measure the longest of the electron mean free paths in Co and Cu as originally suggested by Parkin. From semiclassical transport calculations and careful analysis of the magnetoresistance data we conclude that the exponential behavior of ΔG is uniquely related to the longest of the Co and Cu mean free paths under the condition of effective spin-dependent filtering at the interfaces or in the bulk of the Co. In this regime we have compared λlong in Co and Cu with bulk conductivities (~λshort+λlong), yielding no strong evidence for bulk spin-dependent scattering in Co.

The photosensitivity of carbon quantum dots/CuAlO2 films composites.

PubMed

Pan, Jiaqi; Sheng, Yingzhuo; Zhang, Jingxiang; Wei, Jumeng; Huang, Peng; Zhang, Xin; Feng, Boxue

2015-07-31

Carbon quantum dots/CuAlO2 films were prepared by a simple route through which CuAlO2 films prepared by sol-gel on crystal quartz substrates were composited with carbon quantum dots on their surface. The characterization results indicated that CuAlO2 films were well combined with carbon quantum dots. The photoconductivity of carbon quantum dots/CuAlO2 films was investigated under illumination and darkness switching, and was demonstrated to be significantly enhanced compared with CuAlO2 films. Through analysis, this enhancement of photoconductivity was attributed to the carbon quantum dots with unique up-converted photoluminescence behavior.

The photosensitivity of carbon quantum dots/CuAlO2 films composites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pan, Jiaqi; Sheng, Yingzhuo; Zhang, Jingxiang; Wei, Jumeng; Huang, Peng; Zhang, Xin; Feng, Boxue

2015-07-01

Carbon quantum dots/CuAlO2 films were prepared by a simple route through which CuAlO2 films prepared by sol-gel on crystal quartz substrates were composited with carbon quantum dots on their surface. The characterization results indicated that CuAlO2 films were well combined with carbon quantum dots. The photoconductivity of carbon quantum dots/CuAlO2 films was investigated under illumination and darkness switching, and was demonstrated to be significantly enhanced compared with CuAlO2 films. Through analysis, this enhancement of photoconductivity was attributed to the carbon quantum dots with unique up-converted photoluminescence behavior.

Growth response, blood characteristics and copper accumulation in organs of broilers fed on diets supplemented with organic and inorganic dietary copper sources.

PubMed

Jegede, A V; Oduguwa, O O; Bamgbose, A M; Fanimo, A O; Nollet, L

2011-02-01

1. A 56-d experiment was conducted to study the comparative influence of organic and inorganic dietary copper (Cu) sources on growth, blood characteristics and copper accumulation in organs of broilers. 2. A total of 480 Arbor-Acre unsexed broilers were fed on diets containing copper sulphate (CuSO(4)) or copper proteinate (Cu Pro) at concentrations of 50, 100 or 150 mg/kg of Cu supplementation. The birds were given a broiler starter diet from 1-28 d and a broiler finisher diet from 29-56 d which contained 30·8 mg/kg and 41·1 mg/kg basal copper concentration respectively. Growth performance, blood characteristics and Cu accumulation in organs of the broilers were measured. 3. At 28 d, Cu Pro-fed birds had improved feed conversion ratio compared with CuSO(4). At 56 d, birds fed on Cu Pro diets had significantly greater body weight than CuSO(4)-fed birds. Birds fed on CuSO(4) supplemented diets had significantly better feed conversion efficiency. Feed consumptions for the two Cu sources were not significantly different. At no stage did the concentration of added Cu affect the productive traits measured. 4. Cu Pro supplementation increased haemoglobin concentration but reduced plasma triglyceride and plasma cholesterol. Plasma cholesterol decreased as Cu concentration increased. 5. There was a greater accumulation of Cu in the blood, heart, lung, liver and bone of broilers fed on Cu Pro than in those receiving CuSO(4). The liver Cu concentration increased as dietary Cu concentration increased. 6. Cu Pro was more effective in promoting growth and reducing blood cholesterol, and was more bio-available in the organs of broilers.

The Effects of Social Anxiety on Alcohol and Cigarette Use across Adolescence: Results from a Longitudinal Twin Study in Finland

PubMed Central

Savage, Jeanne E.; Kaprio, Jaakko; Korhonen, Tellervo; Pulkkinen, Lea; Rose, Richard J.; Verhulst, Brad; Dick, Danielle M.

2016-01-01

Conflicting reports exist on the direction of the relationship between social anxiety (SA) and alcohol/cigarette use (AU/CU) and alcohol/nicotine dependence (AD/ND), with both positive and negative associations reported. A prospective, longitudinal sample of Finnish twins (n=1906) was used to test potential explanations for these discrepancies. Specifically, this study used peer, parent, and teacher ratings of SA, and a clinical interview screening item for Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD-Sc) to examine associations between SA and AU/CU and AD/ND from early adolescence into young adulthood. Peer-rated SA was negatively associated with AU, CU, and AD from age 14 through age 22, implying a protective effect (β=−0.01 to −.03). Teacher- and parent-rated SA associations were in the same directions but weaker or non-significant, indicating that aspects of SA that are recognizable by peers may be most relevant to AU/CU. Self-reported SAD-Sc was also negatively associated with AU, but positively associated with AD symptoms in young adulthood (β=0.38). Our findings partially support the existence of different associations between SA and AU versus AD, but only in the context of SAD-Sc rather than trait SA. Neither trait SA nor SAD-Sc significantly predicted ND symptoms, although SAD-Sc was associated with both cigarette abstinence and daily smoking. These findings suggest that adolescent SA is modestly associated with lower AU/CU, although there may be some individuals with more severe SA who develop alcohol problems later in life. There was little evidence of a common underlying liability contributing to both SA and alcohol/cigarette use. PMID:27322804

Direct and indirect effects of impulsivity traits on drinking and driving in young adults.

PubMed

Treloar, Hayley R; Morris, David H; Pedersen, Sarah L; McCarthy, Denis M

2012-09-01

Impulsivity is strongly associated with alcohol-related risk-taking behavior, and this association has been found to be mediated by alcohol cognitions. The current study expanded this literature by comparing the relative association of distinct impulsivity traits with a specific risky behavior--drinking and driving. We then tested whether drinking-and-driving expectancies uniquely mediated this relation over and above other cognitions about alcohol and drinking and driving. College student drivers (n = 816; 53.6% women) completed a paper-and-pencil survey in small groups. Self-report measures assessed alcohol use, impulsivity traits, alcohol expectancies, drinking-and-driving cognitions (i.e., expectancies, attitudes, beliefs), and drinking and driving. Although all impulsivity traits were correlated with drinking and driving, only urgency uniquely contributed to drinking and driving. Indirect effect tests indicated that drinking-and-driving convenience expectancies partially mediated this association as well as that between (lack of) perseverance and drinking and driving. These results remained significant after controlling for alcohol expectancies and other drinking-and-driving cognitions. These findings highlight the importance of distinguishing among impulsivity traits to improve theoretical models of the processes by which personality leads to specific alcohol-related consequences. In addition, results extend previous research by providing evidence for the unique importance of expectancies regarding the convenience of drinking and driving over and above more global alcohol expectancies and other drinking-and-driving cognitions.

How do different humanness measures relate? Confronting the attribution of secondary emotions, human uniqueness, and human nature traits.

PubMed

Martínez, Rocío; Rodriguez-Bailon, Rosa; Moya, Miguel; Vaes, Jeroen

2017-01-01

The present research examines the relationship between the infrahumanization approach and the two-dimensional model of humanness: an issue that has received very little empirical attention. In Study 1, we created three unknown groups (Humanized, Animalized, and Mechanized) granting/denying them Human Nature (HN) and Human Uniqueness (HU) traits. The attribution of primary/secondary emotions was measured. As expected, participants attributed more secondary emotions to the humanized compared to dehumanized groups. Importantly, both animalized and mechanized groups were attributed similar amounts of secondary emotions. In Study 2, the groups were described in terms of their capacity to express secondary emotions. We measured the attribution of HN/HU traits. Results showed that the infrahumanized group was denied both HU/HN traits. The results highlight the importance of considering the common aspects of both approaches in understanding processes of dehumanization.

Analysis of copper tolerant rhizobacteria from the industrial belt of Gujarat, western India for plant growth promotion in metal polluted agriculture soils.

PubMed

Sharaff, Murali; Kamat, Shalmali; Archana, G

2017-04-01

Agricultural sites irrigated for long term with water polluted by industrial effluents containing heavy metals might adversely affect the soil microbial communities and crop yield. Hence it is important to study rhizobacterial communities and their metal tolerance in such affected agricultural fields to restore soil fertility and ecosystem. Present work deals with the study of rhizobacterial communities from plants grown in copper (Cu) contaminated agricultural fields along the industrial zone of Gujarat, India and are compared with communities from a Cu mine site. Microbial communities from rhizosphere soil samples varied in the magnitude of their Cu tolerance index indicating differences in long term pollution effects. Culture dependent denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (CD-DGGE) of bacterial communities revealed the diverse composition at the sampling sites and a reduced total diversity due to Cu toxicity. Analysis of 16S rRNA gene diversity of Cu tolerant rhizobacteria revealed the predominance of Enterobacter spp. and Pseudomonas spp. under Cu stress conditions. Cu tolerant bacterial isolates that were able to promote growth of mung bean plants in vitro under Cu stress were obtained from these samples. Cu tolerant rhizobacterium P36 identified as Enterobacter sp. exhibited multiple plant growth promoting traits and significantly alleviated Cu toxicity to mung bean plants by reducing the accumulation of Cu in plant roots and promoted the plant growth in CuSO 4 amended soils. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Emotion recognition in girls with conduct problems.

PubMed

Schwenck, Christina; Gensthaler, Angelika; Romanos, Marcel; Freitag, Christine M; Schneider, Wolfgang; Taurines, Regina

2014-01-01

A deficit in emotion recognition has been suggested to underlie conduct problems. Although several studies have been conducted on this topic so far, most concentrated on male participants. The aim of the current study was to compare recognition of morphed emotional faces in girls with conduct problems (CP) with elevated or low callous-unemotional (CU+ vs. CU-) traits and a matched healthy developing control group (CG). Sixteen girls with CP-CU+, 16 girls with CP-CU- and 32 controls (mean age: 13.23 years, SD=2.33 years) were included. Video clips with morphed faces were presented in two runs to assess emotion recognition. Multivariate analysis of variance with the factors group and run was performed. Girls with CP-CU- needed more time than the CG to encode sad, fearful, and happy faces and they correctly identified sadness less often. Girls with CP-CU+ outperformed the other groups in the identification of fear. Learning effects throughout runs were the same for all groups except that girls with CP-CU- correctly identified fear less often in the second run compared to the first run. Results need to be replicated with comparable tasks, which might result in subgroup-specific therapeutic recommendations.

A 3D network of helicates fully assembled by pi-stacking interactions.

PubMed

Vázquez, Miguel; Taglietti, Angelo; Gatteschi, Dante; Sorace, Lorenzo; Sangregorio, Claudio; González, Ana M; Maneiro, Marcelino; Pedrido, Rosa M; Bermejo, Manuel R

2003-08-07

The neutral dinuclear dihelicate [Cu2(L)2] x 2CH3CN (1) forms a unique 3D network in the solid state due to pi-stacking interactions, which are responsible for intermolecular antiferromagnetic coupling between Cu(II) ions.

Unsatisfied relatedness, not competence or autonomy, increases trait anger through the right amygdala.

PubMed

Wang, Yinan; Kong, Feng; Kong, Xiangzhen; Zhao, Yuanfang; Lin, Danhua; Liu, Jia

2017-10-01

Anger is a common negative emotion in social life. Behavioral research suggests that unsatisfied relatedness, autonomy, and competence are related to anger. However, it remains unclear whether these unsatisfied needs all contribute to anger or just a particular unsatisfied need is the main source of anger. In addition, little is known about the neural substrate between unsatisfied needs and anger. To address these two questions, we used voxel-based morphometry (VBM) to explore the neural substrate underlying the relation between unsatisfied needs and trait anger. Behaviorally, we found that although all three unsatisfied needs were correlated with trait anger, unsatisfied relatedness was the only factor that was uniquely related to trait anger. Neurally, the gray matter volume of the right amygdala was correlated with trait anger, which fits nicely with the role of the amygdala as a core region for processing anger. Importantly, the right amygdala mediated the total effect of unsatisfied relatedness on trait anger, even after controlling for general personality dispositions. Our results contribute to the theoretical conceptualization of anger by elucidating the unique role of unsatisfied relatedness in anger and the neural substrate underlying such relation.

Quantitative trait loci for energy balance traits in an advanced intercross line derived from mice divergently selected for heat loss

PubMed Central

Nielsen, Merlyn K.; Thorn, Stephanie R.; Valdar, William; Pomp, Daniel

2014-01-01

Obesity in human populations, currently a serious health concern, is considered to be the consequence of an energy imbalance in which more energy in calories is consumed than is expended. We used interval mapping techniques to investigate the genetic basis of a number of energy balance traits in an F11 advanced intercross population of mice created from an original intercross of lines selected for increased and decreased heat loss. We uncovered a total of 137 quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for these traits at 41 unique sites on 18 of the 20 chromosomes in the mouse genome, with X-linked QTLs being most prevalent. Two QTLs were found for the selection target of heat loss, one on distal chromosome 1 and another on proximal chromosome 2. The number of QTLs affecting the various traits generally was consistent with previous estimates of heritabilities in the same population, with the most found for two bone mineral traits and the least for feed intake and several body composition traits. QTLs were generally additive in their effects, and some, especially those affecting the body weight traits, were sex-specific. Pleiotropy was extensive within trait groups (body weights, adiposity and organ weight traits, bone traits) and especially between body composition traits adjusted and not adjusted for body weight at sacrifice. Nine QTLs were found for one or more of the adiposity traits, five of which appeared to be unique. The confidence intervals among all QTLs averaged 13.3 Mb, much smaller than usually observed in an F2 cross, and in some cases this allowed us to make reasonable inferences about candidate genes underlying these QTLs. This study combined QTL mapping with genetic parameter analysis in a large segregating population, and has advanced our understanding of the genetic architecture of complex traits related to obesity. PMID:24918027

CuNi Nanoparticles Assembled on Graphene for Catalytic Methanolysis of Ammonia Borane and Hydrogenation of Nitro/Nitrile Compounds

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Yu, Chao; Fu, Jiaju; Muzzio, Michelle

Here we report a solution phase synthesis of 16 nm CuNi nanoparticles (NPs) with the Cu/Ni composition control. These NPs are assembled on graphene (G) and show Cu/Ni composition-dependent catalysis for methanolysis of ammonia borane (AB) and hydrogenation of aromatic nitro (nitrile) compounds to primary amines in methanol at room temperature. Among five different CuNi NPs studied, the G-Cu 36Ni 64 NPs are the best catalyst for both AB methanolysis (TOF = 49.1 mol H2 mol CuNi -1 min -1 and E a = 24.4 kJ/mol) and hydrogenation reactions (conversion yield >97%). In conclusion, the G-CuNi represents a unique noble-metal-freemore » catalyst for hydrogenation reactions in a green environment without using pure hydrogen.« less

CuNi Nanoparticles Assembled on Graphene for Catalytic Methanolysis of Ammonia Borane and Hydrogenation of Nitro/Nitrile Compounds

DOE PAGES

Yu, Chao; Fu, Jiaju; Muzzio, Michelle; ...

2017-01-12

Here we report a solution phase synthesis of 16 nm CuNi nanoparticles (NPs) with the Cu/Ni composition control. These NPs are assembled on graphene (G) and show Cu/Ni composition-dependent catalysis for methanolysis of ammonia borane (AB) and hydrogenation of aromatic nitro (nitrile) compounds to primary amines in methanol at room temperature. Among five different CuNi NPs studied, the G-Cu 36Ni 64 NPs are the best catalyst for both AB methanolysis (TOF = 49.1 mol H2 mol CuNi -1 min -1 and E a = 24.4 kJ/mol) and hydrogenation reactions (conversion yield >97%). In conclusion, the G-CuNi represents a unique noble-metal-freemore » catalyst for hydrogenation reactions in a green environment without using pure hydrogen.« less

Disorganized attachment and inhibitory capacity: predicting externalizing problem behaviors.

PubMed

Bohlin, Gunilla; Eninger, Lilianne; Brocki, Karin Cecilia; Thorell, Lisa B

2012-04-01

The aim of the present study was to investigate whether attachment insecurity, focusing on disorganized attachment, and the executive function (EF) component of inhibition, assessed at age 5, were longitudinally related to general externalizing problem behaviors as well as to specific symptoms of ADHD and Autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and callous-unemotional (CU) traits. General externalizing problem behaviors were also measured at age 5 to allow for a developmental analysis. Outcome variables were rated by parents and teachers. The sample consisted of 65 children with an oversampling of children with high levels of externalizing behaviors. Attachment was evaluated using a story stem attachment doll play procedure. Inhibition was measured using four different tasks. The results showed that both disorganized attachment and poor inhibition were longitudinally related to all outcome variables. Controlling for initial level of externalizing problem behavior, poor inhibition predicted ADHD symptoms and externalizing problem behaviors, independent of disorganized attachment, whereas for ASD symptoms no predictive relations remained. Disorganized attachment independently predicted CU traits.

Dissecting the role of amygdala reactivity in antisocial behavior in a sample of young, low-income, urban men

PubMed Central

Hyde, Luke W.; Shaw, Daniel S.; Murray, Laura; Gard, Arianna; Hariri, Ahmad R.; Forbes, Erika E.

2015-01-01

Neuroimaging has suggested that amygdala reactivity to emotional facial expressions is associated with antisocial behavior (AB), particularly among those high on callous-unemotional (CU) traits. To investigate this association and potential moderators of this relationship, including task/stimuli effects, subregional anatomy of the amygdala, and participant race, we used fMRI in a sample of 167 racially diverse, 20 year-old men from low-income families. We found that AB, but not CU traits, was negatively related to amygdala reactivity to fearful faces. This result was specific to fearful faces and strongest in the centro-medial subregion of the amygdala. Arrest record was positively related to basolateral amygdala reactivity to fearful and angry faces. Results were strongest among those identified as African American and not present in those identified as European American. Our findings suggest substantial complexity in the relationship between amygdala function and AB reflecting moderating effects of task stimulus, subregional anatomy, and race. PMID:27429865

EM Algorithm for Mapping Quantitative Trait Loci in Multivalent Tetraploids

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Multivalent tetraploids that include many plant species, such as potato, sugarcane and rose, are of paramount importance to agricultural production and biological research. Quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping in multivalent tetraploids is challenged by their unique cytogenetic properties, such ...

Strikingly enhanced cooling performance for a micro-cooler using unique Cu nanowire array with high electrical conductivity and fast heat transfer behavior

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tan, Ming; Wang, Xiuzhen; Hao, Yanming; Deng, Yuan

2017-06-01

It was found that phonons/electrons are less scattered along (1 1 1)-preferred Cu nanowires than in ordinary structure films and that the interface of Cu nanowires electrode and thermoelectric materials are more compatible. Here highly ordered, high-crystal-quality, high-density Cu nanowire array was successfully fabricated by a magnetron sputtering method. The Cu nanowire array was successfully incorporated using mask-assisted deposition technology as electrodes for thin-film thermoelectric coolers, which would greatly improve electrical/thermal transport and enhance performance of micro-coolers. The cooling performance of the micro-cooler with Cu nanowire array electrode is over 200% higher than that of the cooler with ordinary film electrode.

Mapping of quantitative trait loci controlling adaptive traits in coastal Douglas-fir. I. Timing of vegetative bud flush.

Treesearch

K.D. Jermstad; D.L. Bassoni; K.S. Jech; N.C. Wheeler; D.B. Neale

2001-01-01

Abstract Thirty three unique quantitative trait loci (QTLs) affecting the timing of spring bud flush have been identified in an intraspecific mapping population of coastal Douglas-fir [Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco var. menziesii]. Both terminal and lateral bud flush were measured over a 4-year period on clonal replicates at two test sites, allowing for the...

Effects of oxytocin on background anxiety in rats with high or low baseline startle

PubMed Central

Ayers, Luke; Agostini, Andrew; Schulkin, Jay; Rosen, Jeffrey B.

2016-01-01

Rationale Oxytocin has antianxiety properties in humans and rodents. However, the antianxiety effects have been variable. Objectives To reduce variability and strengthen to the antianxiety effect of oxytocin in fear-potentiated startle, two experiments were performed. First, different amounts of light-shock pairings were given to determine the optimal levels of cue-specific fear conditioning and non-predictable startle (background anxiety). Second, the antianxiety effects of oxytocin were examined in rats with high and low pre-fear conditioning baseline startle to determine if oxytocin differentially affects high and low trait anxiety rats. Methods Baseline pre-fear conditioning startle responses were first measured. Rats then received 1, 5 or 10 light-shock pairings. Fear-potentiated startle was then tested with two trial types: light-cued startle and non-cued startle trials. In the second experiment, rats fear conditioned with 10 light-shock pairings were administered either saline or oxytocin before a fear-potentiated startle test. Rats were categorized as low or high startlers by their pre-fear conditioning startle amplitude. Results Ten shock-pairings produced the largest non-cued startle responses (background anxiety), without increasing cue-specific fear-potentiated startle compared to 1 and 5 light-shock pairings. Cue-specific fear-potentiated startle was unaffected by oxytocin. Oxytocin reduced background anxiety only in rats with low pre-fear startle responses. Conclusions Oxytocin has population selective antianxiety effects on non-cued unpredictable threat, but only in rats with low pre-fear baseline startle responses. The low startle responses are reminiscent of humans with low startle responses and high trait anxiety. PMID:27004789

The Importance of Developmental Science for Studies in Bullying and Victimization

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Peter K.; Jones, Alice P.

2012-01-01

Research on bullying and victimization, especially in school settings, has become an important area of developmental research, with strong practical implications. In this article we overview some considerations from neuropsychology, quantitative genetics, developmental neuroscience, we discuss CU traits and conduct problems, individual, group,…

Dioxygen Binding, Activation, and Reduction to H2O by Cu Enzymes.

PubMed

Solomon, Edward I

2016-07-05

Oxygen intermediates in copper enzymes exhibit unique spectroscopic features that reflect novel geometric and electronic structures that are key to reactivity. This perspective will describe: (1) the bonding origin of the unique spectroscopic features of the coupled binuclear copper enzymes and how this overcomes the spin forbiddenness of O2 binding and activates monooxygenase activity, (2) how the difference in exchange coupling in the non-coupled binuclear Cu enzymes controls the reaction mechanism, and (3) how the trinuclear Cu cluster present in the multicopper oxidases leads to a major structure/function difference in enabling the irreversible reductive cleavage of the O-O bond with little overpotential and generating a fully oxidized intermediate, different from the resting enzyme studied by crystallography, that is key in enabling fast PCET in the reductive half of the catalytic cycle.

Direct and Indirect Effects of Impulsivity Traits on Drinking and Driving in Young Adults

PubMed Central

Treloar, Hayley R.; Morris, David H.; Pedersen, Sarah L.; McCarthy, Denis M.

2012-01-01

Objective: Impulsivity is strongly associated with alcohol-related risk-taking behavior, and this association has been found to be mediated by alcohol cognitions. The current study expanded this literature by comparing the relative association of distinct impulsivity traits with a specific risky behavior—drinking and driving. We then tested whether drinking-and-driving expectancies uniquely mediated this relation over and above other cognitions about alcohol and drinking and driving. Method: College student drivers (n = 816; 53.6% women) completed a paper-and-pencil survey in small groups. Self-report measures assessed alcohol use, impulsivity traits, alcohol expectancies, drinking-and-driving cognitions (i.e., expectancies, attitudes, beliefs), and drinking and driving. Results: Although all impulsivity traits were correlated with drinking and driving, only urgency uniquely contributed to drinking and driving. Indirect effect tests indicated that drinking-and-driving convenience expectancies partially mediated this association as well as that between (lack of) perseverance and drinking and driving. These results remained significant after controlling for alcohol expectancies and other drinking-and-driving cognitions. Conclusions: These findings highlight the importance of distinguishing among impulsivity traits to improve theoretical models of the processes by which personality leads to specific alcohol-related consequences. In addition, results extend previous research by providing evidence for the unique importance of expectancies regarding the convenience of drinking and driving over and above more global alcohol expectancies and other drinking-and-driving cognitions. PMID:22846243

Symmetry and novelty in the electronic and geometric structure of nanoalloys:. the case of Ag27Cu7

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ortigoza, M. Alcántara; Rahman, T. S.

2008-04-01

Nanoparticles of bimetallic alloys have been shown to possess composition dependent characteristics which distinguish themselves from the corresponding bulk alloys. Taking the 34-atom nanoalloy of Ag and Cu (Ag27Cu7), we show using first principles electronic structure calculations that this core-shell alloy indeed has perfect D5h symmetry and consists of only 6 non-equivalent (2 Cu and 4 Ag) atoms. Analysis of the interatomic bond lengths and detailed electronic structure further reveal that the Cu atoms play a major role in controlling the characteristics of the nanoalloy. The higher cohesive energy, together with shorter bond length for Cu, compared to Ag, conspire to produce a hierarchy in the relative strengths of the Ag - Cu, Ag - Ag, and Cu - Cu bonds and corresponding interatomic bond lengths, point to the uniqueness in the characteristics of this nanoalloy. Charge density plots of Ag27Cu7 provide further insights into the relative strengths of the various interatomic bonds.

Facile synthesis of polyaniline-modified CuS with enhanced adsorbtion and photocatalytic activity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Xiufang; Chen, Shaohua; Shuai, Ying

2016-10-01

Novel hierarchical polyaniline-modified CuS (PANI-CuS) has been synthesized by simple assembling PANI on the surface of flower-like CuS spheres. The PANI modification enhances the adsorption properties of flower-like CuS. The prepared PANI-CuS composites exhibit higher visible-light-driven photocatalytic activities in degradation of rhodamine B (RhB) than that of neat CuS. The unusual photocatalytic activity could be attributed to the great adsorptivity of dyes, the extended photoresponse range, and the high migration efficiency of photoinduced electrons, which may effectively suppress the charge recombination. This work not only provides a simple strategy for fabricating highly efficient and stable CuS-based composites, but also proves that these unique structures are excellent platforms for significantly improving their visible- light-driven photoactivities, holding great promise for their applications in the field of purifying polluted water resources.

Unique molecular properties of superoxide dismutase from teleost fish skin.

PubMed

Nakano, T; Sato, M; Takeuchi, M

1995-02-27

A unique Cu,Zn-SOD was found and isolated from plaice Paralichthys olivaceus skin. Surprisingly, the properties of purified fish skin SOD were very different from those of SOD from other sources reported so far. The purified SOD was composed of four same subunits of 16 kDa and the molecular weight of the native SOD was found to be around 65 kDa. The dominant amino acids of the SOD were Ser, Thr, Pro and Glu. Above 70 degrees C, thermostability of the SOD was much lower than that of bovine erythrocyte Cu,Zn-SOD.

Greener synthesis of Cu-MOF-74 and its catalytic use for the generation of vanillin.

PubMed

Flores, J Gabriel; Sánchez-González, Elí; Gutiérrez-Alejandre, Aída; Aguilar-Pliego, Julia; Martínez, Ana; Jurado-Vázquez, Tamara; Lima, Enrique; González-Zamora, Eduardo; Díaz-García, Manuel; Sánchez-Sánchez, Manuel; Ibarra, Ilich A

2018-03-26

A greener synthesis of Cu-MOF-74 was obtained, for the first time, in methanol as the unique solvent and at room temperature. Full characterisation of the MOF material showed its purity and also its nanocrystalline nature. Complete activation (150 °C for 1 h and 10-3 bar) of Cu-MOF-74 afforded unsaturated Cu metal sites and this was corroborated by in situ DRIFT spectroscopy. The access to these Cu open metal sites was tested for the catalytic transformation of trans-ferulic acid to vanillin (yield of 71% and 97% selectivity) and a plausible catalytic reaction mechanism was postulated based on quantum chemical calculations.

CHARGED PARTICLE MULTIPLICITIES IN ULTRA-RELATIVISTIC AU+AU AND CU+CU COLLISIONS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Back, B. B.; Alver, B.; Back, B. B.; Baker, M. D.; Ballintijn, M.; Barton, D. S.; Betts, R. R.; Bickley, A. A.; Bindel, R.; Busza, W.; Carroll, A.; Chai, Z.; Chetluru, V.; Decowski, M. P.; Garcia, E.; Gburek, T.; George, N.; Gulbrandsen, K.; Halliwell, C.; Hamblen, J.; Harnarine, I.; Hauer, M.; Henderson, C.; Hofman, D. J.; Hollis, R. S.; Holynski, R.; Holzman, B.; Iordanova, A.; Johnson, E.; Kane, J. L.; Khan, N.; Kulinich, P.; Kuo, C. M.; Li, W.; Lin, W. T.; Loizides, C.; Manly, S.; Mignerey, A. C.; Nouicer, R.; Olszewski, A.; Pak, R.; Reed, C.; Richardson, E.; Roland, C.; Roland, G.; Sagerer, J.; Seals, H.; Sedykh, I.; Smith, C. E.; Stankiewicz, M. A.; Steinberg, P.; Stephans, G. S. F.; Sukhanov, A.; Szostak, A.; Tonjes, M. B.; Trzupek, A.; Vale, C.; Vannieuwenhuizen, G. J.; Vaurynovich, S. S.; Verdier, R.; Veres, G. I.; Walters, P.; Wenger, E.; Willhelm, D.; Wolfs, F. L. H.; Wosiek, B.; Wozniak, K.; Wyngaardt, S.; Wyslouch, B.

The PHOBOS collaboration has carried out a systematic study of charged particle multiplicities in Cu+Cu and Au+Au collisions at the Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider (RHIC) at Brookhaven National Laboratory. A unique feature of the PHOBOS detector is its ability to measure charged particles over a very wide angular range from 0.5° to 179.5° corresponding to |η| <5.4. The general features of the charged particle multiplicity distributions as a function of pseudo-rapidity, collision energy and centrality, as well as system size, are discussed.

Continuity between DSM-5 Section II and Section III personality traits for obsessive-compulsive personality disorder.

PubMed

Liggett, Jacqueline; Sellbom, Martin; Bach, Bo

2018-01-01

Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD) is formally operationalized in Section II of the DSM-5 by a heterogeneous collection of 8 categorical criteria. Section III contains an alternative model operationalizing personality disorders via dimensional personality traits and associated impairment. The extent to which the personality traits used to define OCPD in Section III correspond with the Section II operationalization of the disorder is contested. The current study aims to contribute to the evidence base necessary to solidify the optimal trait profile for this disorder via a more fine-tuned examination of OCPD. The research questions were examined using a clinical sample of 142 Danish adults who completed the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis II Disorders and the Personality Inventory for DSM-5 to index both the Sections II and III (personality traits) operationalizations of OCPD, respectively. Bivariate correlations supported Rigid Perfectionism and Perseveration as traits relevant to OCPD; however, hierarchical regression analyses indicated that of the 4 traits used in the Section III operationalization of OCPD, only Rigid Perfectionism uniquely predicted OCPD (p < .05). In addition to Rigid Perfectionism, the conceptually relevant traits of Submissiveness, Suspiciousness, and (low) Impulsivity were also found to uniquely predict OCPD and its specific symptoms in a regression model. These findings indicate that the traits proposed in Section III are only partially aligned with the traditional, Section II conceptualization of OCPD, and may be augmented by incorporating Submissiveness, Suspiciousness, and (low) Impulsivity. In light of the current findings and existing literature, a modified constellation of traits to operationalize OCPD is likely justified. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

50 CFR 223.203 - Anadromous fish.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... identifiably unique biological and life history traits. Populations may be aggregated for management purposes... units, describe how the management units are defined, given biological and life history traits, so as to... impacts. (E) Provide for effective monitoring and adaptive management. (F) Use the best available science...

Unique effects of different components of trait emotional intelligence in traditional bullying and cyberbullying.

PubMed

Baroncelli, Andrea; Ciucci, Enrica

2014-08-01

This study investigated whether different components of trait emotional intelligence (or trait emotional self-efficacy) were uniquely related to traditional bullying and cyberbullying in a sample of 529 preadolescents (mean age of 12 years and 7 months), while controlling for the other forms of bullying/victimization. Binary logistic regressions showed that the dimension of emotional intelligence concerning the regulation and use of emotions was negatively related both to traditional bullying and cyberbullying; however, this association did not emerge when traditional bullying was controlled for cyberbullying, whilst it still emerged when cyberbullying was controlled for traditional bullying and both forms of victimization. Differently, the dimensions concerning appraisal of own and others' emotions were not deficient in children performing bullying and/or cyberbullying behaviors. Despite high co-occurrence between traditional and electronic bullying, our results suggested that these two forms are distinct phenomena, involving different personality traits. Implications for interventions are discussed. Copyright © 2014 The Foundation for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effect of Dietary Phytase Supplementation on Bone and Hyaline Cartilage Development of Broilers Fed with Organically Complexed Copper in a Cu-Deficient Diet.

PubMed

Muszyński, Siemowit; Tomaszewska, Ewa; Kwiecień, Małgorzata; Dobrowolski, Piotr; Tomczyk, Agnieszka

2018-04-01

Tibial mechanical, chemical, and histomorphometrical traits were investigated for growing male Ross 308 broiler chickens fed diets that had copper (Cu) from organic source at a lowered level of 25% of the daily requirement (4 mg kg -1 of a premix) with or without phytase. Dietary treatments were control non-copper, non-phytase group (0 Suppl); 4 mg kg -1 Cu non-phytase group (25%Cu); and 4 mg kg -1 Cu + 500 FTU kg -1 phytase group (25%Cu + phyt). The results show that birds fed with the addition of phytase exhibited improved weight gain and final body weight and had increased serum IGF-1 and osteocalcin concentrations. The serum concentration of Cu and P did not differ between groups; however, Ca concentration decreased in the 25%Cu + phyt group when compared to the 25%Cu group. Added Cu increased bone Ca, P, Cu, and ash content in Cu-supplemented groups, but bone weight and length increased only by the addition of phytase. Bone geometry, yield, and ultimate strengths were affected by Cu and phytase addition. A decrease of the elastic stress and ultimate stress of the tibia in Cu-supplemented groups was observed. The histomorphometric analysis showed a positive effect of Cu supplementation on real bone volume and trabecular thickness in the tibia metaphyseal trabeculae; additionally, phytase increased the trabeculea number. The supplementation with Cu significantly increased the total articular cartilage and growth plate cartilage thickness; however, the changes in thickness of particular zones were dependent upon phytase addition. In summary, dietary Cu supplements given to growing broilers with Cu in their diet restricted to 25% of the daily requirement had a positive effect on bone metabolism, and phytase supplementation additionally improved cartilage development.

Electrophysiological time course and brain areas of spontaneous and intentional trait inferences

PubMed Central

Van Duynslaeger, Marijke; Verstraeten, Edwin

2007-01-01

This study measured event-related potentials during spontaneous and intentional trait inferences. Participants read sentences describing the behavior of a target person from which a strong moral trait could be inferred. The last word of each sentence determined the consistency with the trait induced during an introductory paragraph. In comparison with behaviors that were consistent with the implied trait, a P300 waveform was obtained when the behaviors were evaluative inconsistent with that trait. This dependency on behavioral consistency indicates that trait inferences were made previously while reading the preceding behaviors, irrespective of the participants’ spontaneous or intentional goals. Overall, the P300 shows considerable parallels between spontaneous and intentional inferences, indicating that the type and timing of the inconsistency process is very similar. In contrast, source localization (LORETA) of the event-related potentials suggest that spontaneous inferences show greater activation in the temporo-parietal junction compared to intentional inferences following an inconsistency. Memory measures taken after the presentation of the stimulus material involved sentence completion and trait-cued recall, and supported the occurrence of trait inferences associated with the actor. They also showed significant correlations with the neural components (i.e. P300 and its current density at the temporo-parietal junction) predominantly following spontaneous instructions, indicating that these components are valid neural indices of spontaneous inferences. PMID:18985139

Interactions between C and Cu atoms in single-layer graphene: direct observation and modelling.

PubMed

Kano, Emi; Hashimoto, Ayako; Kaneko, Tomoaki; Tajima, Nobuo; Ohno, Takahisa; Takeguchi, Masaki

2016-01-07

Metal doping into the graphene lattice has been studied recently to develop novel nanoelectronic devices and to gain an understanding of the catalytic activities of metals in nanocarbon structures. Here we report the direct observation of interactions between Cu atoms and single-layer graphene by transmission electron microscopy. We document stable configurations of Cu atoms in the graphene sheet and unique transformations of graphene promoted by Cu atoms. First-principles calculations based on density functional theory reveal a reduction of energy barrier that caused rotation of C-C bonds near Cu atoms. We discuss two driving forces, electron irradiation and in situ heating, and conclude that the observed transformations were mainly promoted by electron irradiation. Our results suggest that individual Cu atoms can promote reconstruction of single-layer graphene.

Traits and evolution of wing venation pattern in paraneopteran insects.

PubMed

Nel, André; Prokop, Jakub; Nel, Patricia; Grandcolas, Philippe; Huang, Di-Ying; Roques, Patrick; Guilbert, Eric; Dostál, Ondřej; Szwedo, Jacek

2012-05-01

Two different patterns of wing venation are currently supposed to be present in each of the three orders of Paraneoptera. This is unlikely compared with the situation in other insects where only one pattern exists per order. We propose for all Paraneoptera a new and unique interpretation of wing venation pattern, assuming that the convex cubitus anterior gets fused with the common stem of median and radial veins at or very near to wing base, after separation from concave cubitus posterior, and re-emerges more distally from R + M stem. Thereafter, the vein between concave cubitus posterior and CuA is a specialized crossvein called "cua-cup," proximally concave and distally convex. We show that despite some variations, that is, cua-cup can vary from absent to hypertrophic; CuA can re-emerge together with M or not, or even completely disappear, this new interpretation explains all situations among all fossil and recent paraneopteran lineages. We propose that the characters "CuA fused in a common stem with R and M"and "presence of specialized crossvein cua-cup" are venation apomorphies that support the monophyly of the Paraneoptera. In the light of these characters, we reinterpret several Palaeozoic and early Mesozoic fossils that were ascribed to Paraneoptera, and confirm the attribution of several to this superorder as well as possible attribution of Zygopsocidae (Zygopsocus permianus Tillyard, 1935) as oldest Psocodea. We discuss the situation in extinct Hypoperlida and Miomoptera, suggesting that both orders could well be polyphyletic, with taxa related to Archaeorthoptera, Paraneoptera, or even Holometabola. The Carboniferous Protoprosbolidae is resurrected and retransferred into the Paraneoptera. The genus Lithoscytina is restored. The miomopteran Eodelopterum priscum Schmidt, 1962 is newly revised and considered as a fern pinnule. In addition, the new paraneopteran Bruayaphis oudardi gen. nov. et sp. nov. is described fromthe Upper Carboniferous of France (see Supporting Information). Copyright © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Facilitators and barriers experienced by federal cross-sector partners during the implementation of a healthy eating campaign.

PubMed

Fernandez, Melissa Anne; Desroches, Sophie; Marquis, Marie; Turcotte, Mylène; Provencher, Véronique

2017-09-01

To identify facilitators and barriers that Health Canada's (HC) cross-sector partners experienced while implementing the Eat Well Campaign: Food Skills (EWC; 2013-2014) and describe how these experiences might differ according to distinct partner types. A qualitative study using hour-long semi-structured telephone interviews conducted with HC partners that were transcribed verbatim. Facilitators and barriers were identified inductively and analysed according partner types. Implementation of a national mass-media health education campaign. Twenty-one of HC's cross-sector partners (food retailers, media and health organizations) engaged in the EWC. Facilitators and barriers were grouped into seven major themes: operational elements, intervention factors, resources, collaborator traits, developer traits, partnership factors and target population factors. Four of these themes had dual roles as both facilitators and barriers (intervention factors, resources, collaborator traits and developer traits). Sub-themes identified as both facilitators and barriers illustrate the extent to which a facilitator can easily become a barrier. Partnership factors were unique facilitators, while operational and target population factors were unique barriers. Time was a barrier that was common to almost all partners regardless of partnership type. There appeared to be a greater degree of uniformity among facilitators, whereas barriers were more diverse and unique to the realities of specific types of partner. Collaborative planning will help public health organizations anticipate barriers unique to the realities of specific types of organizations. It will also prevent facilitators from becoming barriers. Advanced planning will help organizations manage time constraints and integrate activities, facilitating implementation.

Implicit social learning in relation to autistic-like traits.

PubMed

Hudson, Matthew; Nijboer, Tanja C W; Jellema, Tjeerd

2012-12-01

We investigated if variation in autistic traits in the typically-developed population (using the Autism-spectrum Quotient, AQ) influenced implicit learning of social information. In the learning phase, participants repeatedly observed two identities whose gaze and expression conveyed either a pro- or antisocial disposition. These identities were then employed in a gaze-cueing paradigm. Participants made speeded responses to a peripheral target that was spatially pre-cued by a non-predictive gaze direction. The low AQ group (n = 50) showed a smaller gaze-cueing effect for the antisocial than for the prosocial identity. The high AQ group (n = 48) showed equivalent gaze-cueing for both identities. Others' intentions/dispositions can be learned implicitly and affect subsequent responses to their behavior. This ability is impaired with increasing levels of autistic traits.

Quantitative trait loci associated with anthracnose resistance in sorghum

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

With an aim to develop a durable resistance to the fungal disease anthracnose, two unique genetic sources of resistance were selected to create genetic mapping populations to identify regions of the sorghum genome that encode anthracnose resistance. A series of quantitative trait loci were identifi...

Psychopathic traits moderate peer influence on adolescent delinquency.

PubMed

Kerr, Margaret; Van Zalk, Maarten; Stattin, Håkan

2012-08-01

Peer influence on adolescent delinquency is well established, but little is known about moderators of peer influence. In this study, we examined adolescents' (targets) and their peers' psychopathic personality traits as moderators of peer influence on delinquency in peer networks. We used three separate dimensions of the psychopathic personality: grandiose-manipulative traits, callous-unemotional traits, and impulsive-irresponsible traits. We used a peer network approach with five waves of longitudinal data from 847 adolescents in one community. Peer nominations were not limited to the school context, thus allowing us to capture all potentially important peers. In addition, peers reported on their own delinquency, thus allowing us to avoid problems of false consensus or projection that arise when individuals report on their peers' delinquency. We used simulation investigation for empirical network analyses (SIENA), which is the only program currently available that can be used to study peer influence effects in peer networks of multiple relationships while controlling for selection effects. Targets' and peers' callous-unemotional and grandiose-manipulative traits uniquely moderated peer influence on delinquency. Relative to those with low levels, targets who were high on these traits were less influenced by peers' delinquency, and peers who were high on these traits were more influential on targets' delinquency. Selection effects were found for impulsive-irresponsible traits, but these traits did not moderate peer influence on delinquency. As the first study to look at moderating effects of psychopathic traits on peer influence, this study advances knowledge about peer influence on delinquency and about psychopathic traits in adolescents. In addition, the study contributes to the literature by looking at unique effects of the three dimensions of psychopathy and taking a peer network approach, in which network effects, self-selection, and other selection effects are controlled when examining influence and moderators of influence. © 2011 The Authors. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry © 2011 Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.

Personality traits beyond the big five: are they within the HEXACO space?

PubMed

Lee, Kibeom; Ogunfowora, Babatunde; Ashton, Michael C

2005-10-01

Paunonen (2002) recently developed the Supernumerary Personality Inventory (SPI), a measure of 10 traits that have low loadings within the space of the Big Five personality factors. If the SPI personality traits are representative of the domain of non-Big Five personality traits, then the major source of the variance in the SPI traits would be expected to correlate strongly with the sixth factor of personality, Honesty-Humility. We tested this hypothesis using self-report measures (N = 200) of the SPI traits, of the Big Five, and of the new six-dimensional ("HEXACO") structure. Results indicated that the first unrotated factor underlying the 10 SPI traits was heavily saturated with variance from Honesty-Humility (r = .65). Nevertheless, the 10 SPI traits contained substantial amounts of unique variance not accounted for by the HEXACO or the Big Five variables, highlighting the importance of the facet-level assessment of personality traits.

All in its proper time: monitoring the emergence of a memory bias for novel, arousing-negative words in individuals with high and low trait anxiety.

PubMed

Eden, Annuschka Salima; Zwitserlood, Pienie; Keuper, Katharina; Junghöfer, Markus; Laeger, Inga; Zwanzger, Peter; Dobel, Christian

2014-01-01

The well-established memory bias for arousing-negative stimuli seems to be enhanced in high trait-anxious persons and persons suffering from anxiety disorders. We monitored the emergence and development of such a bias during and after learning, in high and low trait anxious participants. A word-learning paradigm was applied, consisting of spoken pseudowords paired either with arousing-negative or neutral pictures. Learning performance during training evidenced a short-lived advantage for arousing-negative associated words, which was not present at the end of training. Cued recall and valence ratings revealed a memory bias for pseudowords that had been paired with arousing-negative pictures, immediately after learning and two weeks later. This held even for items that were not explicitly remembered. High anxious individuals evidenced a stronger memory bias in the cued-recall test, and their ratings were also more negative overall compared to low anxious persons. Both effects were evident, even when explicit recall was controlled for. Regarding the memory bias in anxiety prone persons, explicit memory seems to play a more crucial role than implicit memory. The study stresses the need for several time points of bias measurement during the course of learning and retrieval, as well as the employment of different measures for learning success.

Evolution of a plant-specific copper chaperone family for chloroplast copper homeostasis

DOE PAGES

Blaby-Haas, Crysten E.; Padilla-Benavides, Teresita; Stübe, Roland; ...

2014-12-02

Metallochaperones traffic copper (Cu +) from its point of entry at the plasma membrane to its destination. In plants, one destination is the chloroplast, which houses plastocyanin, a Cu-dependent electron transfer protein involved in photosynthesis. In this paper, we present a previously unidentified Cu + chaperone that evolved early in the plant lineage by an alternative-splicing event of the pre-mRNA encoding the chloroplast P-type ATPase in Arabidopsis 1 (PAA1). In several land plants, recent duplication events created a separate chaperone-encoding gene coincident with loss of alternative splicing. The plant-specific Cu + chaperone delivers Cu + with specificity for PAA1, whichmore » is flipped in the envelope relative to prototypical bacterial ATPases, compatible with a role in Cu + import into the stroma and consistent with the canonical catalytic mechanism of these enzymes. The ubiquity of the chaperone suggests conservation of this Cu +-delivery mechanism and provides a unique snapshot into the evolution of a Cu + distribution pathway. Finally, we also provide evidence for an interaction between PAA2, the Cu +-ATPase in thylakoids, and the Cu +-chaperone for Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase (CCS), uncovering a Cu + network that has evolved to fine-tune Cu + distribution.« less

Theoretical Insights into a CO Dimerization Mechanism in CO2 Electroreduction.

PubMed

Montoya, Joseph H; Shi, Chuan; Chan, Karen; Nørskov, Jens K

2015-06-04

In this work, we present DFT simulations that demonstrate the ability of Cu to catalyze CO dimerization in CO2 and CO electroreduction. We describe a previously unreported CO dimer configuration that is uniquely stabilized by a charged water layer on both Cu(111) and Cu(100). Without this charged water layer at the metal surface, the formation of the CO dimer is prohibitively endergonic. Our calculations also demonstrate that dimerization should have a lower activation barrier on Cu(100) than Cu(111), which, along with a more exergonic adsorption energy and a corresponding higher coverage of *CO, is consistent with experimental observations that Cu(100) has a high activity for C-C coupling at low overpotentials. We also demonstrate that this effect is present with cations other than H(+), a finding that is consistent with the experimentally observed pH independence of C2 formation on Cu.

Carbon nanotube-copper exhibiting metal-like thermal conductivity and silicon-like thermal expansion for efficient cooling of electronics.

PubMed

Subramaniam, Chandramouli; Yasuda, Yuzuri; Takeya, Satoshi; Ata, Seisuke; Nishizawa, Ayumi; Futaba, Don; Yamada, Takeo; Hata, Kenji

2014-03-07

Increasing functional complexity and dimensional compactness of electronic devices have led to progressively higher power dissipation, mainly in the form of heat. Overheating of semiconductor-based electronics has been the primary reason for their failure. Such failures originate at the interface of the heat sink (commonly Cu and Al) and the substrate (silicon) due to the large mismatch in thermal expansion coefficients (∼300%) of metals and silicon. Therefore, the effective cooling of such electronics demands a material with both high thermal conductivity and a similar coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) to silicon. Addressing this demand, we have developed a carbon nanotube-copper (CNT-Cu) composite with high metallic thermal conductivity (395 W m(-1) K(-1)) and a low, silicon-like CTE (5.0 ppm K(-1)). The thermal conductivity was identical to that of Cu (400 W m(-1) K(-1)) and higher than those of most metals (Ti, Al, Au). Importantly, the CTE mismatch between CNT-Cu and silicon was only ∼10%, meaning an excellent compatibility. The seamless integration of CNTs and Cu was achieved through a unique two-stage electrodeposition approach to create an extensive and continuous interface between the Cu and CNTs. This allowed for thermal contributions from both Cu and CNTs, resulting in high thermal conductivity. Simultaneously, the high volume fraction of CNTs balanced the thermal expansion of Cu, accounting for the low CTE of the CNT-Cu composite. The experimental observations were in good quantitative concurrence with the theoretically described 'matrix-bubble' model. Further, we demonstrated identical in-situ thermal strain behaviour of the CNT-Cu composite to Si-based dielectrics, thereby generating the least interfacial thermal strain. This unique combination of properties places CNT-Cu as an isolated spot in an Ashby map of thermal conductivity and CTE. Finally, the CNT-Cu composite exhibited the greatest stability to temperature as indicated by its low thermal distortion parameter (TDP). Thus, this material presents a viable and efficient alternative to existing materials for thermal management in electronics.

Genetic regulation of bone metabolism in the chicken: similarities and differences to Mammalian systems.

PubMed

Johnsson, Martin; Jonsson, Kenneth B; Andersson, Leif; Jensen, Per; Wright, Dominic

2015-05-01

Birds have a unique bone physiology, due to the demands placed on them through egg production. In particular their medullary bone serves as a source of calcium for eggshell production during lay and undergoes continuous and rapid remodelling. We take advantage of the fact that bone traits have diverged massively during chicken domestication to map the genetic basis of bone metabolism in the chicken. We performed a quantitative trait locus (QTL) and expression QTL (eQTL) mapping study in an advanced intercross based on Red Junglefowl (the wild progenitor of the modern domestic chicken) and White Leghorn chickens. We measured femoral bone traits in 456 chickens by peripheral computerised tomography and femoral gene expression in a subset of 125 females from the cross with microarrays. This resulted in 25 loci for female bone traits, 26 loci for male bone traits and 6318 local eQTL loci. We then overlapped bone and gene expression loci, before checking for an association between gene expression and trait values to identify candidate quantitative trait genes for bone traits. A handful of our candidates have been previously associated with bone traits in mice, but our results also implicate unexpected and largely unknown genes in bone metabolism. In summary, by utilising the unique bone metabolism of an avian species, we have identified a number of candidate genes affecting bone allocation and metabolism. These findings can have ramifications not only for the understanding of bone metabolism genetics in general, but could also be used as a potential model for osteoporosis as well as revealing new aspects of vertebrate bone regulation or features that distinguish avian and mammalian bone.

X-ray Spectroscopy Uncovering the Effects of Cu Based Nanoparticle Concentration and Structure on Phaseolus vulgaris Germination and Seedling Development.

PubMed

Duran, Nádia M; Savassa, Susilaine M; Lima, Rafael Giovanini de; de Almeida, Eduardo; Linhares, Francisco S; van Gestel, Cornelis A M; Pereira de Carvalho, Hudson W

2017-09-13

Nanoparticles properties such as solubility, tunable surface charges, and singular reactivity might be explored to improve the performance of fertilizers. Nevertheless, these unique properties may also bring risks to the environment since the fate of nanoparticles is poorly understood. This study investigated the impact of a range of CuO nanoparticles sizes and concentrations on the germination and seedling development of Phaseolus vulgaris L. Nanoparticles did not affect seed germination, but seedling weight gain was promoted by 100 mg Cu L -1 and inhibited by 1 000 mg Cu L -1 of 25 nm CuO and CuSO 4 . Most of the Cu taken up remained in the seed coat with Cu hotspots in the hilum. X-ray absorption spectroscopy unraveled that most of the Cu remained in its pristine form. The higher surface reactivity of the 25 nm CuO nanoparticles might be responsible for its deleterious effects. The present study therefore highlights the importance of the nanoparticle structure for its physiological impacts.

Small-sized PdCu nanocapsules on 3D graphene for high-performance ethanol oxidation.

PubMed

Hu, Chuangang; Zhai, Xiangquan; Zhao, Yang; Bian, Ke; Zhang, Jing; Qu, Liangti; Zhang, Huimin; Luo, Hongxia

2014-03-07

A one-pot solvothermal process has been developed for direct preparation of PdCu nanocapsules (with a size of ca. 10 nm) on three-dimensional (3D) graphene. Due to the 3D pore-rich network of graphene and the unique hollow structure of PdCu nanocapsules with a wall thickness of ca. 3 nm, the newly-prepared PdCu/3D graphene hybrids activated electrochemically have great electrocatalytic activity towards ethanol oxidation in alkaline media, much better than single-phase Pd and commercial E-TEK 20% Pt/C catalysts promising for application in direct ethanol fuel cells.

Quantitative Analysis of Language Production in Parkinson's Disease Using a Cued Sentence Generation Task

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vanhoutte, Sarah; De Letter, Miet; Corthals, Paul; Van Borsel, John; Santens, Patrick

2012-01-01

The present study examined language production skills in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients. A unique cued sentence generation task was created in order to reduce demands on memory and attention. Differences in sentence production abilities according to disease severity and cognitive impairments were assessed. Language samples were obtained from 20…

An Innovative Electrolysis Approach for the Synthesis of Metal Matrix Bulk Nanocomposites: A Case Study on Copper-Niobium System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shokrvash, Hussein; Rad, Rahim Yazdani; Massoudi, Abouzar

2018-04-01

Design and synthesis of a prototype Cu-Nb nanocomposite are presented. Oxygen-free Cu-Nb nanocomposites were prepared using an electrolysis facility with special emphasis on the cathodic deoxidation of Cu and nanometric Nb2O5 blends in a molten NaCl-CaCl2 electrolyte. The as-prepared nanocomposites were characterized by X-ray diffraction and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The elemental analysis of the Cu matrix and Nb phase revealed the high solubility of Nb in the Cu structure (0.85 at. pct) and Cu in the Nb structure (10.59 at. pct) over short synthesis times (4-5 hours). Furthermore, precise analysis using field emission scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy confirmed the unique structure and nanocomposite morphology of the Cu-Nb nanocomposite. The successful synthesis of Cu-Nb nanocomposites offers a new conceptual and empirical outlook on the generation of bulk nanostructures of immiscible bimetals using electro-synthesis.

Pulse studies to decipher the role of surface morphology in CuO/CeO₂ nanocatalysts for the water gas shift reaction

DOE PAGES

Rodriguez, Jose A.; Zhao, Fuzhen; Liu, Zongyuan; ...

2015-01-23

The water-gas shift reaction (WGS, CO + H₂O → CO₂) was studied over CuO/CeO₂ catalysts with two different ceria particle morphohologies, in the form of nanospheres (ns) and nanocubes (nc). To understand the strong dependence of the WGS reaction activity on the ceria nanoshapes, pulses of CO (without and with water vapor) were employed during in situ X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray absoprtion near edge structure (XANES) measurements done to characterize the catalysts. The results showed that CuO/CeO₂ (ns) exhibited a substantially better activity than CuO/CeO₂ (nc). The higher activity was associated with the unique properties of CuO/CeO₂ (ns), suchmore » as the easier reduction of highly dispersed CuO to metallic Cu, the stability of metallic Cu and a larger concentration Ce³⁺ in CeO₂ (ns).« less

Neural responses to fearful eyes in children with conduct problems and varying levels of callous-unemotional traits.

PubMed

Sebastian, C L; McCrory, E J; Dadds, M R; Cecil, C A M; Lockwood, P L; Hyde, Z H; De Brito, S A; Viding, E

2014-01-01

Children with conduct problems (CP) are a heterogeneous group. Those with high levels of callous-unemotional traits (CP/HCU) appear emotionally under-reactive at behavioural and neural levels whereas those with low levels of CU traits (CP/LCU) appear emotionally over-reactive, compared with typically developing (TD) controls. Investigating the degree to which these patterns of emotional reactivity are malleable may have important translational implications. Instructing participants with CP/HCU to focus on the eyes of fearful faces (i.e. the most salient feature) can ameliorate their fear-recognition deficits, but it is unknown whether this is mediated by amygdala response. It is also unknown whether focusing on fearful eyes is associated with increased amygdala reactivity in CP/LCU. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to measure neural responses to fearful and calm faces in children with CP/HCU, CP/LCU and TD controls (n = 17 per group). On half of trials participants looked for a blue dot anywhere within target faces; on the other half, participants were directed to focus on the eye region. Reaction time (RT) data showed that CP/LCU were selectively slowed in the fear/eyes condition. For the same condition, CP/LCU also showed increased amygdala and subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (sgACC)/orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) responses compared with TD controls. RT and amygdala response to fear/eyes were correlated in CP/LCU only. No effects of focusing on the eye region were observed in CP/HCU. These data extend the evidence base suggesting that CU traits index meaningful heterogeneity in conduct problems. Focusing on regulating reactive emotional responses may be a fruitful strategy for children with CP/LCU.

Regional gray matter volume is associated with trait modesty: Evidence from voxel-based morphometry.

PubMed

Zheng, Chuhua; Wu, Qiong; Jin, Yan; Wu, Yanhong

2017-11-02

Modesty when defined as a personality trait, is highly beneficial to interpersonal relationship, group performance, and mental health. However, the potential neural underpinnings of trait modesty remain poorly understood. In the current study, we used voxel-based morphometry (VBM) to investigate the structural neural basis of trait modesty in Chinese college students. VBM results showed that higher trait modesty score was associated with lager regional gray matter volume in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, left superior temporal gyrus/left temporal pole, and right posterior insular cortex. These results suggest that individual differences in trait modesty are linked to brain regions associated with self-evaluation, self-regulation, and social cognition. The results remained robust after controlling the confounding factor of global self-esteem, suggesting unique structural correlates of trait modesty. These findings provide evidence for the structural neural basis of individual differences in trait modesty.

How Did the Spider Cross the River? Behavioral Adaptations for River-Bridging Webs in Caerostris darwini (Araneae: Araneidae)

PubMed Central

Gregorič, Matjaž; Agnarsson, Ingi; Blackledge, Todd A.; Kuntner, Matjaž

2011-01-01

Background Interspecific coevolution is well described, but we know significantly less about how multiple traits coevolve within a species, particularly between behavioral traits and biomechanical properties of animals' “extended phenotypes”. In orb weaving spiders, coevolution of spider behavior with ecological and physical traits of their webs is expected. Darwin's bark spider (Caerostris darwini) bridges large water bodies, building the largest known orb webs utilizing the toughest known silk. Here, we examine C. darwini web building behaviors to establish how bridge lines are formed over water. We also test the prediction that this spider's unique web ecology and architecture coevolved with new web building behaviors. Methodology We observed C. darwini in its natural habitat and filmed web building. We observed 90 web building events, and compared web building behaviors to other species of orb web spiders. Conclusions Caerostris darwini uses a unique set of behaviors, some unknown in other spiders, to construct its enormous webs. First, the spiders release unusually large amounts of bridging silk into the air, which is then carried downwind, across the water body, establishing bridge lines. Second, the spiders perform almost no web site exploration. Third, they construct the orb capture area below the initial bridge line. In contrast to all known orb-weavers, the web hub is therefore not part of the initial bridge line but is instead built de novo. Fourth, the orb contains two types of radial threads, with those in the upper half of the web doubled. These unique behaviors result in a giant, yet rather simplified web. Our results continue to build evidence for the coevolution of behavioral (web building), ecological (web microhabitat) and biomaterial (silk biomechanics) traits that combined allow C. darwini to occupy a unique niche among spiders. PMID:22046378

Mapping quantitative trait loci for a unique 'super soft' kernel trait in soft white wheat

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Wheat (Triticum sp.) kernel texture is an important factor affecting milling, flour functionality, and end-use quality. Kernel texture is normally characterized as either hard or soft, the two major classes of texture. However, further variation is typically encountered in each class. Soft wheat var...

Culture and Personality in International Schools: Are Trait Differences in Students' Personalities Attenuated or Amplified?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wurf, Gerald C.

2018-01-01

International schools provide a unique context for examining the influence of culture on adolescent personality and identity. In order to investigate whether intercultural education attenuates or amplifies known cultural differences in personality, the traits of 81 students from Chinese, North American, and mixed Chinese-North American cultural…

Stress Strengthens Memory of First Impressions of Others' Positive Personality Traits

PubMed Central

Lass-Hennemann, Johanna; Kuehl, Linn K.; Schulz, André; Oitzl, Melly S.; Schachinger, Hartmut

2011-01-01

Encounters with strangers bear potential for social conflict and stress, but also allow the formation of alliances. First impressions of other people play a critical role in the formation of alliances, since they provide a learned base to infer the other's future social attitude. Stress can facilitate emotional memories but it is unknown whether stress strengthens our memory for newly acquired impressions of other people's personality traits. To answer this question, we subjected 60 students (37 females, 23 males) to an impression-formation task, viewing portraits together with brief positive vs. negative behavior descriptions, followed by a 3-min cold pressor stress test or a non-stressful control procedure. The next day, novel and old portraits were paired with single trait adjectives, the old portraits with a trait adjective matching the previous day's behavior description. After a filler task, portraits were presented again and subjects were asked to recall the trait adjective. Cued recall was higher for old (previously implied) than the novel portraits' trait adjectives, indicating validity of the applied test procedures. Overall, recall rate of implied trait adjectives did not differ between the stress and the control group. However, while the control group showed a better memory performance for others' implied negative personality traits, the stress group showed enhanced recall for others' implied positive personality traits. This result indicates that post-learning stress affects consolidation of first impressions in a valence-specific manner. We propose that the stress-induced strengthening of memory of others' positive traits forms an important cue for the formation of alliances in stressful conditions. PMID:21298099

Stress strengthens memory of first impressions of others' positive personality traits.

PubMed

Lass-Hennemann, Johanna; Kuehl, Linn K; Schulz, André; Oitzl, Melly S; Schachinger, Hartmut

2011-01-26

Encounters with strangers bear potential for social conflict and stress, but also allow the formation of alliances. First impressions of other people play a critical role in the formation of alliances, since they provide a learned base to infer the other's future social attitude. Stress can facilitate emotional memories but it is unknown whether stress strengthens our memory for newly acquired impressions of other people's personality traits. To answer this question, we subjected 60 students (37 females, 23 males) to an impression-formation task, viewing portraits together with brief positive vs. negative behavior descriptions, followed by a 3-min cold pressor stress test or a non-stressful control procedure. The next day, novel and old portraits were paired with single trait adjectives, the old portraits with a trait adjective matching the previous day's behavior description. After a filler task, portraits were presented again and subjects were asked to recall the trait adjective. Cued recall was higher for old (previously implied) than the novel portraits' trait adjectives, indicating validity of the applied test procedures. Overall, recall rate of implied trait adjectives did not differ between the stress and the control group. However, while the control group showed a better memory performance for others' implied negative personality traits, the stress group showed enhanced recall for others' implied positive personality traits. This result indicates that post-learning stress affects consolidation of first impressions in a valence-specific manner. We propose that the stress-induced strengthening of memory of others' positive traits forms an important cue for the formation of alliances in stressful conditions.

Bipolar doping and band-gap anomalies in delafossite transparent conductive oxides.

PubMed

Nie, Xiliang; Wei, Su-Huai; Zhang, S B

2002-02-11

Doping wide-gap materials p type is highly desirable but often difficult. This makes the recent discovery of p-type delafossite oxides, CuM(III)O2, very attractive. The CuM(III)O2 also show unique and unexplained physical properties: Increasing band gap from M(III) = Al,Ga, to In, not seen in conventional semiconductors. The largest gap CuInO2 can be mysteriously doped both n and p type but not the smaller gaps CuAlO2 and CuGaO2. Here, we show that both properties are results of a large disparity between the fundamental gap and the apparent optical gap, a finding that could lead to a breakthrough in the study of bipolarly dopable wide-gap semiconductor oxides.

Functionalization of Biomedical Ti6Al4V via In Situ Alloying by Cu during Laser Powder Bed Fusion Manufacturing.

PubMed

Krakhmalev, Pavel; Yadroitsev, Igor; Yadroitsava, Ina; de Smidt, Olga

2017-10-03

The modern medical industry successfully utilizes Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF) to manufacture complex custom implants. Ti6Al4V is one of the most commonly used biocompatible alloys. In surgery practice, infection at the bone-implant interface is one of the key reasons for implant failure. Therefore, advanced implants with biocompatibility and antibacterial properties are required. Modification of Ti alloy with Cu, which in small concentrations is a proven non-toxic antibacterial agent, is an attractive way to manufacture implants with embedded antibacterial functionality. The possibility of achieving alloying in situ, during manufacturing, is a unique option of the LPBF technology. It provides unique opportunities to manufacture customized implant shapes and design new alloys. Nevertheless, optimal process parameters need to be established for the in situ alloyed materials to form dense parts with required mechanical properties. This research is dedicated to an investigation of Ti6Al4V (ELI)-1 at % Cu material, manufactured by LPBF from a mixture of Ti6Al4V (ELI) and pure Cu powders. The effect of process parameters on surface roughness, chemical composition and distribution of Cu was investigated. Chemical homogeneity was discussed in relation to differences in the viscosity and density of molten Cu and Ti6Al4V. Microstructure, mechanical properties, and fracture behavior of as-built 3D samples were analyzed and discussed. Pilot antibacterial functionalization testing of Ti6Al4V (ELI) in situ alloyed with 1 at % Cu showed promising results and notable reduction in the growth of pure cultures of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus.

Functionalization of Biomedical Ti6Al4V via In Situ Alloying by Cu during Laser Powder Bed Fusion Manufacturing

PubMed Central

Krakhmalev, Pavel; Yadroitsev, Igor; Yadroitsava, Ina; de Smidt, Olga

2017-01-01

The modern medical industry successfully utilizes Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF) to manufacture complex custom implants. Ti6Al4V is one of the most commonly used biocompatible alloys. In surgery practice, infection at the bone–implant interface is one of the key reasons for implant failure. Therefore, advanced implants with biocompatibility and antibacterial properties are required. Modification of Ti alloy with Cu, which in small concentrations is a proven non-toxic antibacterial agent, is an attractive way to manufacture implants with embedded antibacterial functionality. The possibility of achieving alloying in situ, during manufacturing, is a unique option of the LPBF technology. It provides unique opportunities to manufacture customized implant shapes and design new alloys. Nevertheless, optimal process parameters need to be established for the in situ alloyed materials to form dense parts with required mechanical properties. This research is dedicated to an investigation of Ti6Al4V (ELI)-1 at % Cu material, manufactured by LPBF from a mixture of Ti6Al4V (ELI) and pure Cu powders. The effect of process parameters on surface roughness, chemical composition and distribution of Cu was investigated. Chemical homogeneity was discussed in relation to differences in the viscosity and density of molten Cu and Ti6Al4V. Microstructure, mechanical properties, and fracture behavior of as-built 3D samples were analyzed and discussed. Pilot antibacterial functionalization testing of Ti6Al4V (ELI) in situ alloyed with 1 at % Cu showed promising results and notable reduction in the growth of pure cultures of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. PMID:28972546

Association between schizotypal and borderline personality disorder traits, and cannabis use in young adults.

PubMed

Raynal, Patrick; Chabrol, Henri

2016-09-01

The aim of the study was to examine the association of schizotypal and borderline personality traits to cannabis use. Participants were 476 college students (95 males; 381 females; mean age of males=21; mean age of females=20.7) who completed self-report questionnaires assessing cannabis use, schizotypal and borderline personality traits. Problematic cannabis use, depressive symptoms, borderline and schizotypal traits were significantly inter-correlated. A logistic regression analysis showed that only borderline traits contributed significantly to cannabis use in the total sample. A multiple regression analysis showed that only schizotypal traits were positively and uniquely associated to problematic cannabis use symptoms among users. These results may imply that schizotypal traits are not a risk factor for initiating use, but may facilitate the development of problematic use symptoms among users. This study showed the necessity of taking into account schizotypal traits when exploring the relationships between depressive symptoms, borderline traits and cannabis use. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Copper-Nitrogen-Doped Graphene Hybrid as an Electrochemical Sensing Platform for Distinguishing DNA Bases.

PubMed

Sun, Shu-Wen; Liu, Hai-Ling; Zhou, Yue; Wang, Feng-Bin; Xia, Xing-Hua

2017-10-17

An electrochemical sensor using ultralight and porous copper-nitrogen-doped graphene (CuNRGO) nanocomposite as the electrocatalyst has been constructed to simultaneously determine DNA bases such as guanine (G) and cytosine (C), adenine (A), and thymine (T). The nanocomposite is synthesized by thermally annealing an ice-templated structure of graphene oxide (GO) and Cu(phen) 2 . Because of the unique structure and the presence of Cu 2+ -N active sites, the CuNRGO exhibits outstanding electrocatalytic activity toward the oxidation of free DNA bases. After optimizing the experimental conditions, the CuNRGO-based electrochemical sensor shows good linear responses for the G, A, T, and C bases in the concentration ranges of 0.132-6.62 μM, 0.37-5.18 μM, 198.2-5551 μM, and 270.0-1575 μM, respectively. The results demonstrate that CuNRGO is a promising electrocatalyst for electrochemical sensing devices.

Electroless Cu/Ni Plating on Graphite Flake and the Effects to the Properties of Graphite Flake/Si/Al Hybrid Composites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Ying; Peng, Xuanyi; Yang, Yiwen; Wu, Haiwei; Sun, Xu; Han, Xiaopeng

2018-03-01

Proper process and parameter were investigated to coat Cu or Ni on graphite flake (Gf) by electroless plating. Microstructural characterization indicated that the Cu/Ni was coated on the Gf uniformly and comprehensively. Then aluminum matrix composites reinforced with Si and graphite were fabricated by a unique vacuum gas pressure infiltration. The thermal conductivity and mechanical properties of the composites, both with and without Cu or Ni coating layers on the graphite surface, have been studied. The obtained results indicated that the mechanical property of the Cu or Ni coated Gf/Si/Al composites dramatically increased, as compared with the non-coated Gf/Si/Al composite. In the meantime, Cu or Ni coated Gf proved to have better wettability and interfacial bonding with the aluminum matrix, which were expected to be a highly sustainable and dispersible reinforcement for metal matrix composites.

Unique aspects of impulsive traits in substance use and overeating: specific contributions of common assessments of impulsivity.

PubMed

Beaton, Derek; Abdi, Hervé; Filbey, Francesca M

2014-11-01

Abstract Background: Impulsivity is a complex trait often studied in substance abuse and overeating disorders, but the exact nature of impulsivity traits and their contribution to these disorders are still debated. Thus, understanding how to measure impulsivity is essential for comprehending addictive behaviors. Identify unique impulsivity traits specific to substance use and overeating. Impulsive Sensation Seeking (ImpSS) and Barratt's Impulsivity scales (BIS) Scales were analyzed with a non-parametric factor analytic technique (discriminant correspondence analysis) to identify group-specific traits on 297 individuals from five groups: Marijuana (n = 88), Nicotine (n = 82), Overeaters (n = 27), Marijuauna + Nicotine (n = 63), and CONTROLs (n = 37). A significant overall factor structure revealed three components of impulsivity that explained respectively 50.19% (pperm < 0.0005), 24.18% (pperm < 0.0005), and 15.98% (pperm < 0.0005) of the variance. All groups were significantly different from one another. When analyzed together, the BIS and ImpSS produce a multi-factorial structure that identified the impulsivity traits specific to these groups. The group specific traits are (1) CONTROL: low impulse, avoids thrill-seeking behaviors; (2) Marijuana: seeks mild sensation, is focused and attentive; (3) Marijuana + Nicotine: pursues thrill-seeking, lacks focus and attention; (4) Nicotine: lacks focus and planning; (5) Overeating: lacks focus, but plans (short and long term). Our results reveal impulsivity traits specific to each group. This may provide better criteria to define spectrums and trajectories - instead of categories - of symptoms for substance use and eating disorders. Defining symptomatic spectrums could be an important step forward in diagnostic strategies.

Unique aspects of impulsive traits in substance use and overeating: specific contributions of common assessments of impulsivity

PubMed Central

Beaton, Derek; Abdi, Hervé; Filbey, Francesca M.

2015-01-01

Background Impulsivity is a complex trait often studied in substance abuse and overeating disorders, but the exact nature of impulsivity traits and their contribution to these disorders are still debated. Thus, understanding how to measure impulsivity is essential for comprehending addictive behaviors. Objectives Identify unique impulsivity traits specific to substance use and overeating. Methods Impulsive Sensation Seeking (ImpSS) and Barratt’s Impulsivity scales (BIS) Scales were analyzed with a non-parametric factor analytic technique (discriminant correspondence analysis) to identify group-specific traits on 297 individuals from five groups: Marijuana (n = 88), Nicotine (n = 82), Overeaters (n = 27), Marijuauna + Nicotine (n = 63), and Controls (n = 37). Results A significant overall factor structure revealed three components of impulsivity that explained respectively 50.19% (pperm<0.0005), 24.18% (pperm<0.0005), and 15.98% (pperm<0.0005) of the variance. All groups were significantly different from one another. When analyzed together, the BIS and ImpSS produce a multi-factorial structure that identified the impulsivity traits specific to these groups. The group specific traits are (1) Control: low impulse, avoids thrill-seeking behaviors; (2) Marijuana: seeks mild sensation, is focused and attentive; (3) Marijuana + Nicotine: pursues thrill-seeking, lacks focus and attention; (4) Nicotine: lacks focus and planning; (5) Overeating: lacks focus, but plans (short and long term). Conclusions Our results reveal impulsivity traits specific to each group. This may provide better criteria to define spectrums and trajectories – instead of categories – of symptoms for substance use and eating disorders. Defining symptomatic spectrums could be an important step forward in diagnostic strategies. PMID:25115831

An Evaluation of Deficits in Semantic Cuing, Proactive and Retroactive Interference as Early Features of Alzheimer’s disease

PubMed Central

Crocco, Elizabeth; Curiel, Rosie E.; Acevedo, Amarilis; Czaja, Sara J.; Loewenstein, David A.

2015-01-01

OBJECTIVE To determine the degree to which susceptibility to different types of semantic interference may reflect the earliest manifestations of early Alzheimer disease (AD) beyond the effects of global memory impairment. METHODS Normal elderly (NE) subjects (n= 47), subjects with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI: n=34) and 40 subjects with probable AD were evaluated using a unique cued recall paradigm that allowed for an evaluation of both proactive and retroactive interference effects while controlling for global memory impairment (LASSI-L procedure). RESULTS Controlling for overall memory impairment, aMCI subjects had much greater proactive and retroactive interference effects than NE subjects. LASSI-L indices of learning using cued recall evidenced high levels of sensitivity and specificity with an overall correct classification rate of 90%. These provided better discrimination than traditional neuropsychological measures of memory function. CONCLUSION The LASSI-L paradigm is unique and unlike other assessments of memory in that items presented for cued recall are explicitly presented, and semantic interference and cuing effects can be assessed while controlling for initial level of memory impairment. This represents a powerful procedure allowing the participant to serve as his or her own control. The high levels of discrimination between subjects with aMCI and normal cognition that exceeded traditional neuropsychological measures makes the LASSI-L worthy of further research in the detection of early AD. PMID:23768680

Utility of DSM-5 section III personality traits in differentiating borderline personality disorder from comparison groups.

PubMed

Bach, B; Sellbom, M; Bo, S; Simonsen, E

2016-09-01

Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is a highly prevalent diagnosis in mental health care and includes a heterogeneous constellation of symptoms. As the field of personality disorder (PD) research moves to emphasize dimensional traits in its operationalization, it is important to determine how the alternative DSM-5 Section III personality trait dimensions differentiates such features in BPD patients versus comparison groups. To date, no study has attempted such validation. The current study examined the utility of the DSM-5 trait dimensions in differentiating patients with the categorical DSM-IV/5 diagnosis of BPD (n=101) from systematically matched samples of other PD patients (n=101) and healthy controls (n=101). This was investigated using one-way ANOVA and multinomial logistic regression analyses. Results indicated that Emotional Lability, Risk Taking, and Suspiciousness uniquely differentiated BPD patients from other PD patients, whereas Emotional Lability, Depressivity, and Suspiciousness uniquely differentiated BPD patients from healthy controls. Emotional Lability is in particular a key BPD feature of the proposed Section III model, whereas Suspiciousness also augments essential BPD features. Provided that these findings are replicated cross-culturally in forthcoming research, a more parsimonious traits operationalization of BPD features is warranted. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Weeping dragon, a unique ornamenal citrus

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

‘Weeping Dragon’ is a new ornamental citrus cultivar developed by intercrossing of two unusual and unique citrus types, Poncirus trifoliata cultivated variety (cv.) Flying Dragon, and Citrus sinensis cv. ‘Cipo’. This new hybrid cultivar combines strongly contorted and weeping growth traits in a smal...

Trait hostility and hostile interpretation biases in daily smokers: associations with reasons for smoking, motivation to quit, and early smoking lapse.

PubMed

Cougle, Jesse R; Hawkins, Kirsten A; Macatee, Richard J; Zvolensky, Michael J; Sarawgi, Shivali

2014-09-01

Hostility has emerged as an important predictor of smoking cessation difficulties, though the mechanisms underlying the hostility and smoking relationship are poorly understood. Further, research has yet to explore relations between hostile interpretation biases and different aspects of smoking behavior. In the present study, current daily smokers (N = 106) were administered measures of smoking characteristics, smoking motivation, reasons for quitting, hostility, and hostile interpretation bias. Neither trait hostility nor hostile interpretation bias were uniquely associated with motivation to quit, reasons for quitting, nicotine dependence, or problematic symptoms following past cessation attempts. However, hostility and hostile interpretation biases were uniquely associated with different reasons for smoking. Additionally, greater hostile interpretation bias (but not hostility) was uniquely associated with early relapse following past cessation attempts. The current findings add uniquely to the growing, but still relatively small, literature on hostility and smoking and implicate hostile interpretation bias as a potential treatment target in smoking cessation interventions.

Synthesis and structure of a heptanuclear nickel(II) complex uniquely exhibiting four distinct binding modes, two of which are novel, for a hydroxamate ligand.

PubMed

Gaynor, Declan; Starikova, Zoya A; Ostrovsky, Sergei; Haase, Wolfgang; Nolan, Kevin B

2002-03-07

The reaction of 2-(dimethylamino)phenylhydroxamic acid (2-dmAphaH) with NiSO(4).6H2O gives the complex [Ni7(2-dmAphaH-1)2(2-dmApha)8(H2O)2]SO(4).15H2O uniquely exhibiting four distinct hydroxamate binding modes, two of which are novel, and showing both antiferromagnetic and ferromagnetic interactions in contrast to [Cu5(2-dmAphaH-1)4(HSO4)2(MeOH)2].2MeOH, a strongly antiferromagnetic metallacrown formed with CuSO(4).5H2O.

Template Synthesis, Metalation, and Self-Assembly of Protic Gold(I)/(NHC)2 Tectons Driven by Metallophilic Interactions.

PubMed

Ruiz, Javier; García, Lucía; Sol, Daniel; Vivanco, Marilín

2016-07-11

A new protocol for the synthesis of protic bis(N-heterocyclic carbene) complexes of Au(I) by a stepwise metal-controlled coupling of isocyanide and propargylamine is described. They are used as tectons for the construction of supramolecular architectures through metalation and self-assembly. Notably a unique polymeric chain of Cu(I) with alternate Au(I) /bis(imidazolate) bridging scaffolds and strong unsupported Cu(I) -Cu(I) interactions has been generated, as well as a 28-metal-atoms cluster containing a nanopiece of Cu2 O trapped by peripheral Au(I) /bis(imidazolate) moieties. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Evidence for Substantial Genetic Risk for Psychopathy in 7-Year-Olds

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Viding, Essi; Blair, R. James R.; Moffitt, Terrie E.; Plomin, Robert

2005-01-01

Background: Individuals with early warning signs of life-long psychopathy, callous-unemotional traits (CU) and high levels of antisocial behaviour (AB) can be identified in childhood. We report here the first twin study of high levels of psychopathic tendencies in young children. Methods: At the end of the first school year, teachers provided…

Tuning the spin ground state in heterononanuclear nickel(II)-copper(II) cylinders with a triangular metallacyclophane core.

PubMed

Dul, Marie-Claire; Ferrando-Soria, Jesús; Pardo, Emilio; Lescouëzec, Rodrigue; Journaux, Yves; Ruiz-García, Rafael; Cano, Joan; Julve, Miguel; Lloret, Francesc; Fabelo, Oscar; Pasán, Jorge; Ruiz-Pérez, Catalina

2010-12-20

Two new heterometallic Ni(II)(n)Cu(II)((9-n)) complexes [n = 1 (2) and 2 (3)] have been synthesized following a multicomponent self-assembly process from a n:(3 - n):2:6 stoichiometric mixture of Ni(2+), Cu(2+), L(6-), and [CuL'](2+), where L and L' are the bridging and blocking ligands 1,3,5-benzenetris(oxamate) and N,N,N',N'',N''-pentamethyldiethylenetriamine, respectively. Complexes 2 and 3 possess a unique cyclindrical architecture formed by three oxamato-bridged trinuclear linear units connected through two 1,3,5-substituted benzenetris(amidate) bridges, giving a triangular metallacyclophane core. They behave as a ferromagnetically coupled trimer of two (2)/one (3) S = (1)/(2) Cu(II)(3) plus one (2)/two (3) S = 0 Ni(II)Cu(II)(2) linear units with overall S = 1 Ni(II)Cu(II)(8) (2) and S = (1)/(2) Ni(II)(2)Cu(II)(7) (3) ground states.

Archetypal sandwich-structured CuO for high performance non-enzymatic sensing of glucose.

PubMed

Meher, Sumanta Kumar; Rao, G Ranga

2013-03-07

In the quest to enhance the selectivity and sensitivity of novel structured metal oxides for electrochemical non-enzymatic sensing of glucose, we report here a green synthesis of unique sandwich-structured CuO on a large scale under microwave mediated homogeneous precipitation conditions. The physicochemical studies carried out by XRD and BET methods show that the monoclinic CuO formed via thermal decomposition of Cu(2)(OH)(2)CO(3) possesses monomodal channel-type pores with largely improved surface area (~43 m(2) g(-1)) and pore volume (0.163 cm(3) g(-1)). The fascinating surface morphology and pore structure of CuO is formulated due to homogeneous crystallization and microwave induced self assembly during synthesis. The cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry studies show diffusion controlled glucose oxidation at ~0.6 V (vs. Ag/AgCl) with extremely high sensitivity of 5342.8 μA mM(-1) cm(-2) and respective detection limit and response time of ~1 μM and ~0.7 s, under a wide dynamic concentration range of glucose. The chronoamperometry measurements demonstrate that the sensitivity of CuO to glucose is unaffected by the absence of dissolved oxygen and presence of poisoning chloride ions in the reaction medium, which essentially implies high poison resistance activity of the sandwich-structured CuO. The sandwich-structured CuO also shows insignificant interference/significant selectivity to glucose, even in the presence of high concentrations of other sugars as well as reducing species. In addition, the sandwich-structured CuO shows excellent reproducibility (relative standard deviation of ~2.4% over ten identically fabricated electrodes) and outstanding long term stability (only ~1.3% loss in sensitivity over a period of one month) during non-enzymatic electrochemical sensing of glucose. The unique microstructure and suitable channel-type pore architecture provide structural stability and maximum accessible electroactive surface for unimpeded mobility of glucose as well as the product molecules, which result in the excellent sensitivity and selectivity of sandwich-structured CuO for glucose under non-enzymatic milieu.

Trait-mediated trophic interactions: is foraging theory keeping up?

Treesearch

Steven F. Railsback; Bret C. Harvey

2013-01-01

Many ecologists believe that there is a lack of foraging theory that works in community contexts, for populations of unique individuals each making trade-offs between food and risk that are subject to feedbacks from behavior of others. Such theory is necessary to reproduce the trait-mediated trophic interactions now recognized as widespread and strong. Game theory can...

Investigating Leadership in Charter Schools: An Examination of the Leadership Traits of Executive Directors in Successful Charter Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bloomfield, Brian D.

2013-01-01

This study was a qualitative exploration of educational leadership within charter schools in an attempt to identify traits demonstrated by executive directors of successful charter schools. Because much research has been conducted to identify trends in educational leadership, but comparable little within the unique context of charter schools, and…

So, are we the massively lucky species?

PubMed

Penn, Derek C; Holyoak, Keith J; Povinelli, Daniel J

2012-08-01

We are in vehement agreement with most of Vaesen's key claims. But Vaesen fails to consider or rebut the possibility that there are deep causal dependencies among the various cognitive traits he identifies as uniquely human. We argue that "higher-order relational reasoning" is one such linchpin trait in the evolution of human tool use, social intelligence, language, and culture.

Child Psychopathy: Theories, Measurement, and Relations with the Development and Persistence of Conduct Problems

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kotler, Julie S.; McMahon, Robert J.

2005-01-01

To develop more accurate explanatory and predictive models of child and adolescent conduct problems, interest has grown in examining psychopathic traits in youth. The presence or absence of these traits may help to identify unique etiological pathways in the development of antisocial behavior. The current review provides a detailed summary and…

Solvo-thermal synthesis of a unique alkaline earth-transition Ba-Cd micro-porous coordination framework as hetero-metallic luminescent sensor for Cu2+ and real-time detection of benzaldehyde

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ding, Bin; Ma, Dian Xue; Zhang, Hui Min; Meng, Xin; Qiu, Rong Rong; Ren, Rong; Wu, Jie; Wu, Xiang Xia; Huo, Jian Zhong; Liu, Yuan Yuan; Shi, Xue Fang

2018-06-01

In this work a unique hetero-metallic alkaline earth-transition Ba-Cd luminescent micro-porous metal-organic framework {[BaCd(μ6-tp)1.5(μ2-Cl)(H2O) (DMF)2]·0.75H2O}n (H2tp = terephthalic acid) (1) has been prepared under solvo-thermal conditions. In 1 infinite 1D {Ba-X-Cd} (X = O, Cl) inorganic chains are linked via these full de-pronated tp2- ligands forming a unique 3D I1O2 type micro-porous coordination framework. PXRD patterns of 1 have been determined confirming pure phases of 1. Luminescence investigations suggested that 1 exhibits highly selective and sensitive sensing for trace amounts of benzaldehyde in ethanol, which provides a facile method for real-time detection of benzaldehyde. Meanwhile 1 also exhibits highly selective and sensitive sensing for Cu2+ over other cations with high quenching efficiency Ksv value 1.15 × 104 L·mol-1. As far as we know, 1 represents the first example of alkaline earth-transition hetero-metallic Ba-Cd micro-porous coordination framework as bi-functional luminescent probes for Cu2+ and benzaldehyde.

Solvo-thermal synthesis of a unique alkaline earth-transition Ba-Cd micro-porous coordination framework as hetero-metallic luminescent sensor for Cu2+ and real-time detection of benzaldehyde.

PubMed

Ding, Bin; Ma, Dian Xue; Zhang, Hui Min; Meng, Xin; Qiu, Rong Rong; Ren, Rong; Wu, Jie; Wu, Xiang Xia; Huo, Jian Zhong; Liu, Yuan Yuan; Shi, Xue Fang

2018-06-15

In this work a unique hetero-metallic alkaline earth-transition Ba-Cd luminescent micro-porous metal-organic framework {[BaCd(μ 6 -tp) 1.5 (μ 2 -Cl)(H 2 O) (DMF) 2 ]·0.75H 2 O} n (H 2 tp=terephthalic acid) (1) has been prepared under solvo-thermal conditions. In 1 infinite 1D {Ba-X-Cd} (X=O, Cl) inorganic chains are linked via these full de-pronated tp 2- ligands forming a unique 3D I 1 O 2 type micro-porous coordination framework. PXRD patterns of 1 have been determined confirming pure phases of 1. Luminescence investigations suggested that 1 exhibits highly selective and sensitive sensing for trace amounts of benzaldehyde in ethanol, which provides a facile method for real-time detection of benzaldehyde. Meanwhile 1 also exhibits highly selective and sensitive sensing for Cu 2+ over other cations with high quenching efficiency K sv value 1.15×10 4 L·mol -1 . As far as we know, 1 represents the first example of alkaline earth-transition hetero-metallic Ba-Cd micro-porous coordination framework as bi-functional luminescent probes for Cu 2+ and benzaldehyde. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Microstructure and properties of Cu-Sn-Zn-TiO 2 nano-composite coatings on mild steel

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gao, Weidong; Cao, Di; Jin, Yunxue

Cu-Sn-Zn coatings have been widely used in industry for their unique properties, such as good conductivity, high corrosion resistance and excellent solderability. To further improve the mechanical performance of Cu-Sn-Zn coatings, powder-enhanced method was applied and Cu-Sn-Zn-TiO 2 nano-composite coatings with different TiO 2 concentration were fabricated. The microstructure of Cu-Sn-Zn-TiO 2 nano-composite coatings were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The mechanical properties of coatings including microhardness and wear resistance were studied. The results indicate that the incorporation of TiO 2 nanoparticle can significantly influence the properties of Cu-Sn-Zn coatings. The microhardness of Cu-Sn-Zn coatingmore » was increased to 383 HV from 330 HV with 1 g/L TiO 2 addition. Also, the corrosion resistance of coating was enhanced. The effects of TiO 2 nanoparticle concentration on the microstructure, mechanical properties and corrosion resistance of Cu-Sn-Zn-TiO 2 nano-composite coatings were discussed.« less

Microstructure and properties of Cu-Sn-Zn-TiO 2 nano-composite coatings on mild steel

DOE PAGES

Gao, Weidong; Cao, Di; Jin, Yunxue; ...

2018-04-18

Cu-Sn-Zn coatings have been widely used in industry for their unique properties, such as good conductivity, high corrosion resistance and excellent solderability. To further improve the mechanical performance of Cu-Sn-Zn coatings, powder-enhanced method was applied and Cu-Sn-Zn-TiO 2 nano-composite coatings with different TiO 2 concentration were fabricated. The microstructure of Cu-Sn-Zn-TiO 2 nano-composite coatings were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The mechanical properties of coatings including microhardness and wear resistance were studied. The results indicate that the incorporation of TiO 2 nanoparticle can significantly influence the properties of Cu-Sn-Zn coatings. The microhardness of Cu-Sn-Zn coatingmore » was increased to 383 HV from 330 HV with 1 g/L TiO 2 addition. Also, the corrosion resistance of coating was enhanced. The effects of TiO 2 nanoparticle concentration on the microstructure, mechanical properties and corrosion resistance of Cu-Sn-Zn-TiO 2 nano-composite coatings were discussed.« less

Tree branch-shaped cupric oxide for highly effective photoelectrochemical water reduction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jang, Youn Jeong; Jang, Ji-Wook; Choi, Sun Hee; Kim, Jae Young; Kim, Ju Hun; Youn, Duck Hyun; Kim, Won Yong; Han, Suenghoon; Sung Lee, Jae

2015-04-01

Highly efficient tree branch-shaped CuO photocathodes are fabricated using the hybrid microwave annealing process with a silicon susceptor within 10 minutes. The unique hierarchical, one-dimensional structure provides more facile charge transport, larger surface areas, and increased crystallinity and crystal ordering with less defects compared to irregular-shaped CuO prepared by conventional thermal annealing. As a result, the photocathode fabricated with the tree branch-shaped CuO produces an unprecedently high photocurrent density of -4.4 mA cm-2 at 0 VRHE under AM 1.5 G simulated sunlight compared to -1.44 mA cm-2 observed for a photocathode fabricated by thermal annealing. It is also confirmed that stoichiometric hydrogen and oxygen are produced from photoelectrochemical water splitting on the tree branch-shaped CuO photocathode and a platinum anode.Highly efficient tree branch-shaped CuO photocathodes are fabricated using the hybrid microwave annealing process with a silicon susceptor within 10 minutes. The unique hierarchical, one-dimensional structure provides more facile charge transport, larger surface areas, and increased crystallinity and crystal ordering with less defects compared to irregular-shaped CuO prepared by conventional thermal annealing. As a result, the photocathode fabricated with the tree branch-shaped CuO produces an unprecedently high photocurrent density of -4.4 mA cm-2 at 0 VRHE under AM 1.5 G simulated sunlight compared to -1.44 mA cm-2 observed for a photocathode fabricated by thermal annealing. It is also confirmed that stoichiometric hydrogen and oxygen are produced from photoelectrochemical water splitting on the tree branch-shaped CuO photocathode and a platinum anode. Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available: The detailed schematic diagram for the HMA process, XRD results, the temperature profile during HMA, derivative XANES results, TEM images, J-V curves, lists of previously reported copper oxide photocathode, and parameters extracted from EIS. See DOI: 10.1039/c5nr00208g

Trait inferences in goal-directed behavior: ERP timing and localization under spontaneous and intentional processing

PubMed Central

Van den Eede, Sofie; Baetens, Kris; Vandekerckhove, Marie

2009-01-01

This study measured event-related potentials (ERPs) during multiple goal and trait inferences, under spontaneous or intentional instructions. Participants read sentences describing several goal-implying behaviors of a target person from which also a strong trait could be inferred or not. The last word of each sentence determined the consistency with the inference induced during preceding sentences. In comparison with behaviors that implied only a goal, stronger waveforms beginning at ∼150 ms were obtained when the behaviors additionally implied a trait. These ERPs showed considerable parallels between spontaneous and intentional inferences. This suggests that traits embedded in a stream of goal-directed behaviors were detected more rapidly and automatically than mere goals, irrespective of the participants’ spontaneous or intentional instructions. In line with this, source localization (LORETA) of the ERPs show predominantly activation in the temporo-parietal junction (TPJ) during 150–200 ms, suggesting that goals were detected at that time interval. During 200–300 ms, activation was stronger at the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) for multiple goals and traits as opposed to goals only, suggesting that traits were inferred during this time window. A cued recall measure taken after the presentation of the stimulus material support the occurrence of goal and trait inferences and shows significant correlations with the neural components, indicating that these components are valid neural indices of spontaneous and intentional social inferences. The early detection of multiple goal and trait inferences is explained in terms of their greater social relevance, leading to privileged attention allocation and processing in the brain. PMID:19270041

Modeling Photoelectron Spectra of CuO, Cu2O, and CuO2 Anions with Equation-of-Motion Coupled-Cluster Methods: An Adventure in Fock Space.

PubMed

Orms, Natalie; Krylov, Anna I

2018-04-12

The experimental photoelectron spectra of di- and triatomic copper oxide anions have been reported previously. We present an analysis of the experimental spectra of the CuO - , Cu 2 O - , and CuO 2 - anions using equation-of-motion coupled-cluster (EOM-CC) methods. The open-shell electronic structure of each molecule demands a unique combination of EOM-CC methods to achieve an accurate and balanced representation of the multiconfigurational anionic- and neutral-state manifolds. Analysis of the Dyson orbitals associated with photodetachment from CuO - reveals the strong non-Koopmans character of the CuO states. For the lowest detachment energy, a good agreement between theoretical and experimental values is obtained with CCSD(T) (coupled-cluster with single and double excitations and perturbative account of triple excitations). The (T) correction is particularly important for Cu 2 O - . Use of a relativistic pseudopotential and matching basis set improves the quality of results in most cases. EOM-DIP-CCSD analysis of the low-lying states of CuO 2 - reveals multiple singlet and triplet anionic states near the triplet ground state, adding an extra layer of complexity to the interpretation of the experimental CuO 2 - photoelectron spectrum.

Native fish sanctuaries of the lower Colorado River: Cibola High Levee Pond, Desert Pupfish Pond

USGS Publications Warehouse

Mueller, G.

2005-01-01

Isolated by high mountains and harsh deserts, its fish community developed unique and specialized traits that helped them survive raging floods and prolonged droughts. Conditions were so unique that three quarters of the fish species are found nowhere else in the world?|

Enhanced electrochemical capacitance of polyimidazole coated covellite CuS dispersed CNT composite materials for application in supercapacitors.

PubMed

Ravi, Seenu; Gopi, Chandu V V M; Kim, Hee Je

2016-08-02

Great attention has been paid to the design and synthesis of distinct core/shell heterostructures for high-performance supercapacitors. We have prepared unique heterostructures consisting of polyimidazole-coated copper sulphide over a carbon nanotube network (CuS@CNT) on nickel foam, which was accomplished through a facile and cost-effective solvothermal method combined with a dip coating process. Hexagonal covellite CuS nanoparticles were dispersed on CNTs using a solvothermal method where dimethylformamide and distilled water were used as solvents. The synthesized CuS and CuS@CNT supercapacitor electrode materials were thoroughly characterized. The polymer supported electrode (PIM/CuS@CNT) shows a high areal capacitance of 1.51 F cm(-2) at a current density of 1.2 A g(-1), which is higher than the CuS@CNT electrode and many other previously reported CuS electrode materials. After 1000 cycles at a high current density of 1.2 A g(-1), the retention rate is 92%, indicating good long-term cycling stability. These results indicate that the PIM/CuS@CNT electrode is promising for high-performance supercapacitor applications.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Xiao, Anguo, E-mail: hixiaoanguo@126.com; Zhou, Shibiao; Zuo, Chenggang

Graphical abstract: CuO nanotube array electrodes prepared by electrodeposition method exhibit an excellent lithium ion storage ability as anode of Li-ion battery. - Highlights: • CuO nanotube arrays are synthesized by an electrodeposition method. • CuO nanotube shows a high-rate performance. • CuO nanotube shows an excellent cycling performance. - Abstract: We report a facile strategy to prepared CuO nanotube arrays directly grown on Cu plate through the electrodeposition method. The as-prepared CuO nanotubes show a quasi-cylinder nanostructure with internal diameters of ca. ∼100 nm, external diameters of ca. ∼120 nm, and average length of ∼3 μm. As an anodemore » for lithium ion batteries, the electrochemical properties of the CuO nanotube arrays are investigated by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and galvanostatic charge/discharge tests. Due to the unique nanotube nanostructure, the as-prepared CuO electrodes exhibit good rate performance (550 mAh g{sup −1} at 0.1 C and 464 mAh g{sup −1} at 1 C) and cycling performance (581 mAh g{sup −1} at 0.1 C and 538 mAh g{sup −1} at 0.5 C)« less

Social information processing in children: specific relations to anxiety, depression, and affect.

PubMed

Luebbe, Aaron M; Bell, Debora J; Allwood, Maureen A; Swenson, Lance P; Early, Martha C

2010-01-01

Two studies examined shared and unique relations of social information processing (SIP) to youth's anxious and depressive symptoms. Whether SIP added unique variance over and above trait affect in predicting internalizing symptoms was also examined. In Study 1, 215 youth (ages 8-13) completed symptom measures of anxiety and depression and a vignette-based interview measure of SIP. Anxiety and depression were each related to a more negative information-processing style. Only depression was uniquely related to a less positive information processing style. In Study 2, 127 youth (ages 10-13) completed measures of anxiety, depression, SIP, and trait affect. SIP's relations to internalizing symptoms were replicated. Over and above negative affect, negative SIP predicted both anxiety and depression. Low positive SIP added variance over and above positive affect in predicting only depression. Finally, SIP functioning partially mediated the relations of affect to internalizing symptoms.

Optically active red-emitting Cu nanoclusters originating from complexation and redox reaction between copper(ii) and d/l-penicillamine

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Long, Tengfei; Guo, Yanjia; Lin, Min; Yuan, Mengke; Liu, Zhongde; Huang, Chengzhi

2016-05-01

Despite a significant surge in the number of investigations into both optically active Au and Ag nanostructures, there is currently only limited knowledge about optically active Cu nanoclusters (CuNCs) and their potential applications. Here, we have succeeded in preparing a pair of optically active red-emitting CuNCs on the basis of complexation and redox reaction between copper(ii) and penicillamine (Pen) enantiomers, in which Pen serves as both a reducing agent and a stabilizing ligand. Significantly, the CuNCs feature unique aggregation induced emission (AIE) characteristics and therefore can serve as pH stimuli-responsive functional materials. Impressively, the ligand chirality plays a dramatic role for the creation of brightly emissive CuNCs, attributed to the conformation of racemic Pen being unfavorable for the electrostatic interaction, and thus suppressing the formation of cluster aggregates. In addition, the clusters display potential toward cytoplasmic staining and labelling due to the high photoluminescence (PL) quantum yields (QYs) and remarkable cellular uptake, in spite that no chirality-dependent effects in autophagy and subcellular localization are observed in the application of chiral cluster enantiomer-based cell imaging.Despite a significant surge in the number of investigations into both optically active Au and Ag nanostructures, there is currently only limited knowledge about optically active Cu nanoclusters (CuNCs) and their potential applications. Here, we have succeeded in preparing a pair of optically active red-emitting CuNCs on the basis of complexation and redox reaction between copper(ii) and penicillamine (Pen) enantiomers, in which Pen serves as both a reducing agent and a stabilizing ligand. Significantly, the CuNCs feature unique aggregation induced emission (AIE) characteristics and therefore can serve as pH stimuli-responsive functional materials. Impressively, the ligand chirality plays a dramatic role for the creation of brightly emissive CuNCs, attributed to the conformation of racemic Pen being unfavorable for the electrostatic interaction, and thus suppressing the formation of cluster aggregates. In addition, the clusters display potential toward cytoplasmic staining and labelling due to the high photoluminescence (PL) quantum yields (QYs) and remarkable cellular uptake, in spite that no chirality-dependent effects in autophagy and subcellular localization are observed in the application of chiral cluster enantiomer-based cell imaging. Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available. See DOI: 10.1039/c6nr01492e

Disentangling the Underlying Dimensions of Psychopathy and Conduct Problems in Childhood: A Community Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dadds, Mark R.; Fraser, Jenny; Frost, Aaron; Hawes, David J.

2005-01-01

The psychometric and predictive validity of callous-unemotional (CU) traits as an early precursor of conduct disorder and antisocial behavior were assessed. A community sample of children (4-9 years of age) were tested 12 months apart with the Antisocial Process Screening Device (APSD; P. J. Frick & R. D. Hare, 2002), a measure of early signs of…

Parent and Adolescent Report of the Forms and Functions of Aggression: Associations with Delinquency, CU Traits, and Dysregulation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marsee, Monica A.; Lau, Katherine S. L.; Lapré, Genevieve E.

2014-01-01

Background: The purpose of this study is to provide an examination of the psychometric properties and correlates of a parent-report measure of the forms and functions of aggression. Objective: We sought to explore the potential independent association of parent-reported forms and functions of aggression to several important variables commonly…

Situated Willingness to Communicate in an L2: Interplay of Individual Characteristics and Context

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yashima, Tomoko; MacIntyre, Peter D.; Ikeda, Maiko

2018-01-01

Recently, situated willingness to communicate (WTC) has received increasing research attention in addition to traditional quantitative studies of trait-like WTC. This article is an addition to the former but unique in two ways. First, it investigates both trait and state WTC in a classroom context and explores ways to combine the two to reach a…

Academic Achievement: The Unique Contribution of Self-Efficacy Beliefs in Self-Regulated Learning beyond Intelligence, Personality Traits, and Self-Esteem

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zuffiano, Antonio; Alessandri, Guido; Gerbino, Maria; Kanacri, Bernadette Paula Luengo; Di Giunta, Laura; Milioni, Michela; Caprara, Gian Vittorio

2013-01-01

The present study examined the contribution of self-efficacy beliefs in self-regulated learning (SESRL) in predicting academic achievement at the end of junior high school above and beyond the effects of previous academic achievement, gender, socioeconomic status, intelligence, personality traits, and self-esteem. Participants included 170 (87…

The Effects of Positively and Negatively Worded Items on the Factor Structure of the UCLA Loneliness Scale

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dodeen, Hamzeh

2015-01-01

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the factor structure of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Loneliness Scale and examine possible wording effects on a sample of 1,429 students from the United Arab Emirates University. Correlated traits-correlated uniqueness as well as correlated traits-correlated methods were used to examine…

Geographic patterns of genetic variation, population structure and adaptive traits in Pinus aristata, Rocky Mountain bristlecone pine

Treesearch

Anna W. Schoettle; Betsy A. Goodrich; Valerie Hipkins; Christopher Richards; Julie Kray

2011-01-01

Pinus aristata Engelm., Rocky Mountain bristlecone pine, has a narrow geographic and elevational distribution and occurs in disjunct mountain-top populations throughout Colorado and New Mexico in its core range. The species' unique aesthetic and ecological traits combined with the threats of the exotic disease white pine blister rust (WPBR), climate change in high...

Personality Correlates of the Common and Unique Variance across Conduct Disorder and Substance Misuse Symptoms in Adolescence

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Castellanos-Ryan, Natalie; Conrod, Patricia J.

2011-01-01

Externalising behaviours such as substance misuse (SM) and conduct disorder (CD) symptoms highly co-ocurr in adolescence. While disinhibited personality traits have been consistently linked to externalising behaviours there is evidence that these traits may relate differentially to SM and CD. The current study aimed to assess whether this was the…

Neurocognitive deficits and history of childhood abuse in schizophrenia spectrum disorders: associations with Cluster B personality traits.

PubMed

Lysaker, Paul H; Wickett, Amanda M; Lancaster, Rebecca S; Davis, Louanne W

2004-05-01

Cluster B personality traits have been detected in persons with schizophrenia, at a rate exceeding that of the general population. Unclear, however, is how to account for such high rates of Cluster B traits. Accordingly, this study explored the hypothesis that the presence of these traits may be linked to impairments in neurocognition, and childhood abuse history. To test this, we simultaneously obtained an assessment of Cluster B traits using the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory III, along with measures of attention, verbal memory, affect recognition, executive function and childhood abuse history among 37 persons with schizophrenia spectrum disorders in a post acute phases of illness. Pearson correlation coefficients revealed that higher levels of histrionic and narcissistic traits were related to poorer neurocognition while higher levels of narcissistic traits were negatively correlated with childhood physical abuse. Higher levels of borderline traits were uniquely related to the report of childhood sexual abuse while higher levels of antisocial traits were related to higher levels of childhood physical abuse. Theoretical and clinical implications are discussed.

Biochemical characterization of the purple form of Marinobacter hydrocarbonoclasticus nitrous oxide reductase

PubMed Central

Dell'Acqua, Simone; Pauleta, Sofia R.; Moura, José J. G.; Moura, Isabel

2012-01-01

Nitrous oxide reductase (N2OR) catalyses the final step of the denitrification pathway—the reduction of nitrous oxide to nitrogen. The catalytic centre (CuZ) is a unique tetranuclear copper centre bridged by inorganic sulphur in a tetrahedron arrangement that can have different oxidation states. Previously, Marinobacter hydrocarbonoclasticus N2OR was isolated with the CuZ centre as CuZ*, in the [1Cu2+ : 3Cu+] redox state, which is redox inert and requires prolonged incubation under reductive conditions to be activated. In this work, we report, for the first time, the isolation of N2OR from M. hydrocarbonoclasticus in the ‘purple’ form, in which the CuZ centre is in the oxidized [2Cu2+ : 2Cu+] redox state and is redox active. This form of the enzyme was isolated in the presence of oxygen from a microaerobic culture in the presence of nitrate and also from a strictly anaerobic culture. The purple form of the enzyme was biochemically characterized and was shown to be a redox active species, although it is still catalytically non-competent, as its specific activity is lower than that of the activated fully reduced enzyme and comparable with that of the enzyme with the CuZ centre in either the [1Cu2+ : 3Cu+] redox state or in the redox inactive CuZ* state. PMID:22451106

Lexical Studies of Filipino Person Descriptors: Adding Personality-Relevant Social and Physical Attributes

PubMed Central

Imperio, Shellah Myra; Church, A. Timothy; Katigbak, Marcia S.; Reyes, Jose Alberto S.

2009-01-01

Lexical studies have focused on traits. In the Filipino language, we investigated whether additional dimensions can be identified when personality-relevant terms for social roles, statuses, and effects, plus physical attributes, are included. Filipino students (N = 496) rated themselves on 268 such terms, plus 253 markers of trait and evaluative dimensions. We identified 10 dimensions of social and physical attributes—Prominence, Uselessness, Attractiveness, Respectability, Uniqueness, Destructiveness, Presentableness, Strength, Dangerousness, and Charisma. Most of these dimensions did not correspond in a one-to-one manner to Filipino or alternative trait models (Big Five, HEXACO, ML7). However, considerable redundancy was observed between the social and physical attribute dimensions and trait and evaluative dimensions. Thus, social and physical attributes communicate information about personality traits, and vice-versa. PMID:19779603

Tempo and mode of performance evolution across multiple independent origins of adhesive toe pads in lizards.

PubMed

Hagey, Travis J; Uyeda, Josef C; Crandell, Kristen E; Cheney, Jorn A; Autumn, Kellar; Harmon, Luke J

2017-10-01

Understanding macroevolutionary dynamics of trait evolution is an important endeavor in evolutionary biology. Ecological opportunity can liberate a trait as it diversifies through trait space, while genetic and selective constraints can limit diversification. While many studies have examined the dynamics of morphological traits, diverse morphological traits may yield the same or similar performance and as performance is often more proximately the target of selection, examining only morphology may give an incomplete understanding of evolutionary dynamics. Here, we ask whether convergent evolution of pad-bearing lizards has followed similar evolutionary dynamics, or whether independent origins are accompanied by unique constraints and selective pressures over macroevolutionary time. We hypothesized that geckos and anoles each have unique evolutionary tempos and modes. Using performance data from 59 species, we modified Brownian motion (BM) and Ornstein-Uhlenbeck (OU) models to account for repeated origins estimated using Bayesian ancestral state reconstructions. We discovered that adhesive performance in geckos evolved in a fashion consistent with Brownian motion with a trend, whereas anoles evolved in bounded performance space consistent with more constrained evolution (an Ornstein-Uhlenbeck model). Our results suggest that convergent phenotypes can have quite distinctive evolutionary patterns, likely as a result of idiosyncratic constraints or ecological opportunities. © 2017 The Author(s). Evolution © 2017 The Society for the Study of Evolution.

The influence of trait-negative affect and compassion satisfaction on compassion fatigue in Australian nurses.

PubMed

Craigie, Mark; Osseiran-Moisson, Rebecca; Hemsworth, David; Aoun, Samar; Francis, Karen; Brown, Janie; Hegney, Desley; Rees, Clare

2016-01-01

For this study, we examined the nature of the unique relationships trait-negative affect and compassion satisfaction had with compassion fatigue and its components of secondary traumatic stress and burnout in 273 nurses from 1 metropolitan tertiary acute hospital in Western Australia. Participants completed the Professional Quality of Life Scale (Stamm, 2010), Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (Lovibond & Lovibond, 2004), and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (Spielberger, Gorsuch, Lushene, Vagg, & Jacobs, 1983). Bivariate correlation and hierarchical regression analyses were performed to examine and investigate 4 hypotheses. The results demonstrate a clear differential pattern of relationships with secondary traumatic stress and burnout for both trait-negative affect and compassion satisfaction. Trait-negative affect was clearly the more important factor in terms of its contribution to overall compassion fatigue and secondary traumatic stress. In contrast, compassion satisfaction's unique protective relationship only related to burnout, and not secondary traumatic stress. The results are therefore consistent with the view that compassion satisfaction may be an important internal resource that protects against burnout, but is not directly influential in protecting against secondary traumatic stress for nurses working in an acute-care hospital environment. With the projected nursing workforce shortages in Australia, it is apparent that a further understanding is warranted of how such personal variables may work as protective and risk factors. (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Anneal-shrinked Cu2O dendrites grown on porous Cu foam as a robust interface for high-performance nonenzymatic glucose sensing.

PubMed

Niu, Xiangheng; Pan, Jianming; Qiu, Fengxian; Li, Xin; Yan, Yongsheng; Shi, Libo; Zhao, Hongli; Lan, Minbo

2016-12-01

Enzyme-free electrochemical detection of glucose in alkaline media with favorable properties has been acquired by fabricating a robust and large-surface sensing platform, which is composed of anneal-shrinked Cu 2 O dendrites grown on porous Cu foam. On the one hand, the good compatibility of electrodeposited Cu 2 O architectures and Cu foam substrate, together with a post-deposition anneal at 200°C, offers a mechanically stable interface for glucose determination. On the other hand, the macropores of Cu foam that is decorated with unique Cu 2 O dendrites provide large active surface for electrocatalytic reaction and mass transport. As a result, selective sensing of glucose in the linear concentration range of 0.001-1.4mM was achieved on the fabricated sensor, with a sensitivity of as high as 5.04mAcm -2 mM -1 and a detection limit of 0.13μM. Desired long-term performance stability was obtained, partially due to the strong adhesion of Cu 2 O microstructures to the Cu foam support after annealing. Practical monitoring of glucose in serum samples was also demonstrated on the proposed sensor. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Callous-Unemotional Behaviors in Young Girls: Shared and Unique Effects Relative to Conduct Problems

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hipwell, Alison E.; Pardini, Dustin A.; Loeber, Rolf; Sembower, Mark; Keenan, Kate; Stouthamer-Loeber, Magda

2007-01-01

Among girls, little is known about the shared and unique associations that callous-unemotional (CU) behaviors and conduct problems have with aspects of emotional and behavioral dysregulation and with parenting practices. This study examined these associations using a large community-based sample of young girls (N = 990). The findings revealed that…

Unique Physiological and Transcriptional Shifts under Combinations of Salinity, Drought, and Heat.

PubMed

Shaar-Moshe, Lidor; Blumwald, Eduardo; Peleg, Zvi

2017-05-01

Climate-change-driven stresses such as extreme temperatures, water deficit, and ion imbalance are projected to exacerbate and jeopardize global food security. Under field conditions, these stresses usually occur simultaneously and cause damages that exceed single stresses. Here, we investigated the transcriptional patterns and morpho-physiological acclimations of Brachypodium dystachion to single salinity, drought, and heat stresses, as well as their double and triple stress combinations. Hierarchical clustering analysis of morpho-physiological acclimations showed that several traits exhibited a gradually aggravating effect as plants were exposed to combined stresses. On the other hand, other morphological traits were dominated by salinity, while some physiological traits were shaped by heat stress. Response patterns of differentially expressed genes, under single and combined stresses (i.e. common stress genes), were maintained only among 37% of the genes, indicating a limited expression consistency among partially overlapping stresses. A comparison between common stress genes and genes that were uniquely expressed only under combined stresses (i.e. combination unique genes) revealed a significant shift from increased intensity to antagonistic responses, respectively. The different transcriptional signatures imply an alteration in the mode of action under combined stresses and limited ability to predict plant responses as different stresses are combined. Coexpression analysis coupled with enrichment analysis revealed that each gene subset was enriched with different biological processes. Common stress genes were enriched with known stress response pathways, while combination unique-genes were enriched with unique processes and genes with unknown functions that hold the potential to improve stress tolerance and enhance cereal productivity under suboptimal field conditions. © 2017 American Society of Plant Biologists. All Rights Reserved.

Hydrogen peroxide-assisted synthesis of novel three-dimensional octagonal-like CuO nanostructures with enhanced visible-light-driven photocatalytic activity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Xiangyu; Chu, Deqing; Wang, Limin; Hu, Wenhui; Yang, Huifang; Sun, Jingjing; Zhu, Shaopeng; Wang, Guowei; Tao, Jian; Zhang, Songsong

2018-04-01

Novel three-dimensional octagonal-like CuO micro-/nanostructures with diameters ranging from 10 to 15 μm have been successfully prepared by hydrogen peroxide-assisted hydrothermal method and subsequent calcination. The product morphology can be changed by simply ordering the amount of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). When the amounts of H2O2 is increased, the length of the corner portion is increased and the width is narrower. The obtained octagonal CuO nanostructures were evaluated for their ability for the degradation of hazardous organic contaminants in water under visible-light irradiation. Comparing with commercial CuO and other CuO products, the CuO octagonal nanostructures exhibit excellent performance for photocatalytic decomposition of RhB (Rhodamine B). It is well established that effective photocatalytic performance results from its unique 3D octagonal nanostructures. We believe that the present work will provide some ideas for further fabrication of other novel nanostructures and exploration of their applications.

Functional Performances of CuZnAl Shape Memory Alloy Open-Cell Foams

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Biffi, C. A.; Casati, R.; Bassani, P.; Tuissi, A.

2018-01-01

Shape memory alloys (SMAs) with cellular structure offer a unique mixture of thermo-physical-mechanical properties. These characteristics can be tuned by changing the pore size and make the shape memory metallic foams very attractive for developing new devices for structural and functional applications. In this work, CuZnAl SMA foams were produced through the liquid infiltration of space holder method. In comparison, a conventional CuZn brass alloy was foamed trough the same method. Functional performances were studied on both bulk and foamed SMA specimens. Calorimetric response shows similar martensitic transformation (MT) below 0 °C. Compressive response of CuZnAl revealed that mechanical behavior is strongly affected by sample morphology and that damping capacity of metallic foam is increased above the MT temperatures. The shape memory effect was detected in the CuZnAl foams. The conventional brass shows a compressive response similar to that of the martensitic CuZnAl, in which plastic deformation accumulation occurs up to the cellular structure densification after few thermal cycles.

Synergetic Effect of Graphene and MWCNTs on Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Cu/Ti3SiC2/C Nanocomposites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiang, Xiaosong; Song, Tingfeng; Shao, Zhenyi; Liu, Wanxia; Zhu, Degui; Zhu, Minhao

2017-11-01

Multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and graphenes have been taken for novel reinforcements due to their unique structure and performance. However, MWCNTs or graphenes reinforced copper matrix composites could not catch up with ideal value due to reinforcement dispersion in metal matrix, wettability to metal matrix, and composite material interface. Taking advantage of the superior properties of one-dimensional MWCNTs and two-dimensional graphenes, complementary performance and structure are constructed to create a high contact area between MWCNTs and graphenes to the Cu matrix. Mechanical alloying, hot pressing, and hot isostatic pressing techniques are used to fabricate Cu matrix self-lubricating nanocomposites. Effects of MWCNTs and graphenes on mechanical properties and microstructures of Cu/Ti3SiC2/C nanocomposites are studied. The fracture and strengthening mechanisms of Cu/Ti3SiC2/C nanocomposites are explored on the basis of structure and composition of Cu/Ti3SiC2/C nanocomposites with formation and function of interface.

Double-shell CuS nanocages as advanced supercapacitor electrode materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guo, Jinxue; Zhang, Xinqun; Sun, Yanfang; Zhang, Xiaohong; Tang, Lin; Zhang, Xiao

2017-07-01

Metal sulfides hollow structures are advanced materials for energy storage applications of lithium-ion batteries and supercapacitors. However, constructing hollow metal sulfides with specific features, such as multi-shell and non-spherical shape, still remains great challenge. In this work, we firstly demonstrate the synthesis of CuS double-shell hollow nanocages using Cu2O nanocubes as precursors. The synthesis processes involve the repeated anion exchange reaction with Na2S and the controllable etching using hydrochloric acid. The whole synthesis processes are well revealed and the obtained double-shell CuS is tested as pseudocapacitive electrode material for supercapacitors. As expected, the CuS double-shell hollow nanocages deliver high specific capacitance, good rate performance and excellent cycling stability due to their unique nano-architecture. The present work contributes greatly to the exploration of hollow metal sulfides with complex architecture and non-spherical shape, as well as their promising application in high-performance electrochemical supercapacitors.

Facile synthesis of uniform hierarchical composites CuO-CeO2 for enhanced dye removal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Pan; Niu, Helin; Chen, Jingshuai; Song, Jiming; Mao, Changjie; Zhang, Shengyi; Gao, Yuanhao; Chen, Changle

2016-12-01

The hierarchically shaped CuO-CeO2 composites were prepared through a facile solvothermal method without using any template. The as-prepared products were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and N2 adsorption-desorption analysis. In the characterization, we found that CuO-CeO2 composites were showed uniform size and morphology which were consisted of the secondary nanoflakes interconnected with each other. Most interestingly, the composites showed efficient performance to remove methyl blue and Congo red dyes from water with maximum adsorption capacities of 2131.24 and 1072.09 mg g-1, respectively. In addition, because of their larger surface area and the unique hierarchical structures, the adsorption performance of the CuO-CeO2 composites is much better than the materials of CuO and CeO2.

Photovoltaic Conversion Enhancement of a Carbon Quantum Dots/p-Type CuAlO2/n-Type ZnO Photoelectric Device.

PubMed

Pan, Jiaqi; Sheng, Yingzhuo; Zhang, Jingxiang; Huang, Peng; Zhang, Xin; Feng, Boxue

2015-04-22

Carbon quantum dots (C QDs)/p-type CuAlO2/n-type ZnO photoelectric bilayer film composites were prepared by a simple route, through which ZnO films were sputtered on crystal quartz substrates and CuAlO2 films were prepared by sol-gel on ZnO films and then these bilayer films were composited with C QDs on their surface. The characterization results indicated that C QDs were well combined with the surface of the CuAlO2 films. The photovoltage and photocurrent of these bilayer film composites were investigated under illumination and darkness switching, which demonstrated to be significantly enhanced compared with those of the CuAlO2/ZnO bilayer films. Through analysis, this enhancement of the photoconductivity was mainly attributed to C QDs with unique up-converted photoluminescence behavior.

Crystal conversion between metal-organic frameworks with different crystal topologies for efficient crystal design on two-dimensional substrates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tsuruoka, Takaaki; Inoue, Kohei; Miyanaga, Ayumi; Tobiishi, Kaho; Ohhashi, Takashi; Hata, Manami; Takashima, Yohei; Akamatsu, Kensuke

2018-04-01

Crystal conversion of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) between different crystal topologies on a polymer substrate has been successfully achieved by localized dissolution of MOF crystals followed by a rapid self-assembly of framework components. Upon addition of the desired organic linkers to the reaction system containing MOF crystals on the substrate, reversible crystal conversion between the [Cu2(btc)3]n and [Cu2(ndc)2(dabco)]n frameworks (btc = 1,3,5-benzene tricarboxylate, ndc = 1,4-naphthalene dicarboxylate, dabco = 1,4-diazabicyclo[2.2.2]octane) could be routinely achieved in high yields. Most surprisingly, in the case of conversion from the [Cu2(ndc)2(dabco)]n to [Cu2(btc)3]n frameworks, the [Cu2(btc)3]n crystals with unique shapes (cuboctahedron and truncated cube) could be prepared using butanol as a reaction medium.

PdCuPt Nanocrystals With Multi-branches for Enzyme-free Glucose Detection

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Fu, Shaofang; Zhu, Chengzhou; Song, Junhua

By carefully controlling the synthesis condition, branched PtCu bimetallic templates were synthesized in aqueous solution. After the galvanic replacement reaction between PtCu templates and the Pt precursors, PdCuPt trimetallic nanocrystals with branched structures were obtained. Owing to the open structure and the optimized composition, the electrochemical experimental results reveal that the PdCuPt trimetallic nanocrystals exhibit high electrocatalytic activity, selectivity and stability for the oxidation of glucose in alkaline solution. In details, a sensitivity of 378 μA/mM/cm2 and a detection limit of 1.29 μM can be achieved. The good electrocatalytic performance should be attributed to the unique branched nanostructure as wellmore » as the synergistic effect among metals. The superior catalytic properties suggest that these nanocrystals are promising for enzyme-free detection of glucose.« less

Low concentrations of copper in drinking water increase AP-1 binding in the brain.

PubMed

Lung, Shyang; Li, Huihui; Bondy, Stephen C; Campbell, Arezoo

2015-12-01

Copper (Cu) in trace amounts is essential for biological organisms. However, dysregulation of the redox-active metal has been implicated in different neurological disorders such as Wilson's, Menkes', Alzheimer's, and Parkinson's diseases. Since many households use Cu tubing in the plumbing system, and corrosion causes the metal to leach into the drinking water, there may be adverse effects on the central nervous system connected with low-level chronic exposure. The present study demonstrates that treatment with a biologically relevant concentration of Cu for 3 months significantly increases activation of the redox-modulated transcription factor AP-1 in mouse brains. This was independent of an upstream kinase indicated in AP-1 activation. Another redox-active transcription factor, NF-κB, was not significantly modified by the Cu exposure. These results indicate that the effect of Cu on AP-1 is unique and may involve direct modulation of DNA binding. © The Author(s) 2012.

Emotion-related personality traits and peer social standing: unique and interactive effects in cyberbullying behaviors.

PubMed

Ciucci, Enrica; Baroncelli, Andrea

2014-09-01

This study investigated the unique and interactive effects of emotion-related personality traits (i.e., callousness and uncaring traits) and peer social standing (i.e., social preference and perceived popularity) on cyberbullying behaviors in preadolescents. A total of 529 preadolescents (247 boys, 46.69%) were recruited from an Italian middle school (Mage=12 years and 7 months; SD=1 year and 2 months). The participants primarily consisted of Italian children (91.12%). A series of binary logistic regression analyses parted by gender were conducted to examine the main and interactive effects of self-reported emotion-related variables and peer-reported social standing in the prediction of self-reported cyberbullying behaviors, while controlling for cyber victimization and grade effects. In girls, an uncaring disposition was directly associated with cyberbullying behaviors, whereas in boys this association only emerged for those with low perceived popularity. Our results indicated that, in developing anti(cyber)bullying programs, school researchers and practitioners should jointly consider individual and contextual factors.

The Potential of Using Brain Images for Authentication

PubMed Central

Zhou, Zongtan; Shen, Hui; Hu, Dewen

2014-01-01

Biometric recognition (also known as biometrics) refers to the automated recognition of individuals based on their biological or behavioral traits. Examples of biometric traits include fingerprint, palmprint, iris, and face. The brain is the most important and complex organ in the human body. Can it be used as a biometric trait? In this study, we analyze the uniqueness of the brain and try to use the brain for identity authentication. The proposed brain-based verification system operates in two stages: gray matter extraction and gray matter matching. A modified brain segmentation algorithm is implemented for extracting gray matter from an input brain image. Then, an alignment-based matching algorithm is developed for brain matching. Experimental results on two data sets show that the proposed brain recognition system meets the high accuracy requirement of identity authentication. Though currently the acquisition of the brain is still time consuming and expensive, brain images are highly unique and have the potential possibility for authentication in view of pattern recognition. PMID:25126604

The potential of using brain images for authentication.

PubMed

Chen, Fanglin; Zhou, Zongtan; Shen, Hui; Hu, Dewen

2014-01-01

Biometric recognition (also known as biometrics) refers to the automated recognition of individuals based on their biological or behavioral traits. Examples of biometric traits include fingerprint, palmprint, iris, and face. The brain is the most important and complex organ in the human body. Can it be used as a biometric trait? In this study, we analyze the uniqueness of the brain and try to use the brain for identity authentication. The proposed brain-based verification system operates in two stages: gray matter extraction and gray matter matching. A modified brain segmentation algorithm is implemented for extracting gray matter from an input brain image. Then, an alignment-based matching algorithm is developed for brain matching. Experimental results on two data sets show that the proposed brain recognition system meets the high accuracy requirement of identity authentication. Though currently the acquisition of the brain is still time consuming and expensive, brain images are highly unique and have the potential possibility for authentication in view of pattern recognition.

Disgust, but not anger provocation, enhances levator labii superioris activity during exposure to moral transgressions.

PubMed

Whitton, Alexis E; Henry, Julie D; Rendell, Peter G; Grisham, Jessica R

2014-02-01

Physical disgust is elicited by, and amplifies responses to, moral transgressions, suggesting that moral disgust may be a biologically expanded form of physical disgust. However, there is limited research comparing the effects of physical disgust to that of other emotions like anger, making it difficult to determine if the link between disgust and morality is unique. The current research evaluated the specificity of the relationship between disgust and morality by comparing links with anger, using state, physiological and trait measures of emotionality. Participants (N=90) were randomly allocated to have disgust, anger or no emotion induced. Responses to images depicting moral, negative non-moral, and neutral themes were then recorded using facial electromyography. Inducing disgust, but not anger, increased psychophysiological responses to moral themes. Trait disgust, but not trait anger, correlated with levator labii responses to moral themes. These findings provide strong evidence of a unique link between physical disgust and morality. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Is There a Unique Black Personality?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mosby, Doris P.

This article reviews research from the 1940's, 1950's and 1960's on the effects of discrimination on blacks. Data from these studies indicate that adverse cultural restrictions have fostered a unique and distinctive black personality. Among traits identified are: a negative or inferior self-image, pessimism about the future, attachment to the…

A novel fabrication of Cu{sub 2}O@Cu{sub 7}S{sub 4} core-shell micro/nanocrystals from Cu{sub 2}O temples and enhanced photocatalytic activities

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Li, Junqi, E-mail: sfmlab@163.com; Sun, Long; Yan, Ying

2016-08-15

Highlights: • The Cu{sub 2}O@Cu{sub 7}S{sub 4} core-shell crystals maintained the same morphology with template. • The crystals exhibit enhanced photocatalytic activity than the pure Cu{sub 2}O crystals. • The photocatalytic activity of different R crystals is diverse from each other. • A possible formation mechanism has been proposed. - Abstract: Uniform and monodispersed Cu{sub 2}O@Cu{sub 7}S{sub 4} core-shell micro/nanocrystals have been synthesized successfully at room temperature via a simple chemical etching reaction, using Cu{sub 2}O as sacrificial template. The structure and properties of the crystals were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM),more » X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS). The photocatalytic activity of the Cu{sub 2}O@Cu{sub 7}S{sub 4} crystals was evaluated by photocatalytic decolorization of MeO (methyl orange) aqueous solution at ambient temperature under visible-light irradiation. The results show that the as-prepared Cu{sub 2}O@Cu{sub 7}S{sub 4} crystals revealed core-shell structure, which maintained the same morphology with corresponding template and were composed of cuboctahedron Cu{sub 7}S{sub 4} shell and active Cu{sub 2}O core. Due to the unique Cu{sub 2}O@Cu{sub 7}S{sub 4} core-shell structure, the crystals exhibit enhanced photocatalytic activity than that of the pure Cu{sub 2}O crystals, and the photocatalytic activity of different R crystals is diverse from each other. A possible formation mechanism has been proposed.« less

High Density Linkage Map Construction and QTL Detection for Three Silique-Related Traits in Orychophragmus violaceus Derived Brassica napus Population.

PubMed

Yang, Yi; Shen, Yusen; Li, Shunda; Ge, Xianhong; Li, Zaiyun

2017-01-01

Seeds per silique (SS), seed weight (SW), and silique length (SL) are important determinant traits of seed yield potential in rapeseed ( Brassica napus L.), and are controlled by naturally occurring quantitative trait loci (QTLs). Mapping QTLs to narrow chromosomal regions provides an effective means of characterizing the genetic basis of these complex traits. Orychophragmus violaceus is a crucifer with long siliques, many SS, and heavy seeds. A novel B. napus introgression line with many SS was previously selected from multiple crosses ( B. rapa ssp. chinesis × O. violaceus ) × B. napus . In present study, a doubled haploid (DH) population with 167 lines was established from a cross between the introgression line and a line with far fewer SS, in order to detect QTLs for silique-related traits. By screening with a Brassica 60K single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) array, a high-density linkage map consisting of 1,153 bins and spanning a cumulative length of 2,209.1 cM was constructed, using 12,602 high-quality polymorphic SNPs in the DH population. The average recombination bin densities of the A and C subgenomes were 1.7 and 2.4 cM, respectively. 45 QTLs were identified for the three traits in all, which explained 4.0-34.4% of the total phenotypic variation; 20 of them were integrated into three unique QTLs by meta-analysis. These unique QTLs revealed a significant positive correlation between SS and SL and a significant negative correlation between SW and SS, and were mapped onto the linkage groups A05, C08, and C09. A trait-by-trait meta-analysis revealed eight, four, and seven consensus QTLs for SS, SW, and SL, respectively, and five major QTLs ( cqSS.A09b, cqSS.C09, cqSW.A05, cqSW.C09 , and cqSL.C09 ) were identified. Five, three, and four QTLs for SS, SW, and SL, respectively, might be novel QTLs because of the existence of alien genetic loci for these traits in the alien introgression. Thirty-eight candidate genes underlying nine QTLs for silique-related traits were identified.

The interplay of trait worry and trait anxiety in determining episodic retrieval: The role of cognitive control.

PubMed

Pajkossy, Péter; Keresztes, Attila; Racsmány, Mihály

2017-11-01

Worrying is a key concept in describing the complex relationship between anxiety and cognitive control. On the one hand, cognitive control processes might underlie the specific tendency to engage in worrying (i.e., trait worry), conceptualized as a future-oriented mental problem-solving activity. On the other hand, the general tendency to experience the signs and symptoms of anxiety (i.e., trait anxiety) is suggested to impair cognitive control because worrisome thoughts interfere with task-relevant processing. Based on these opposing tendencies, we predicted that the effect of the two related constructs, trait anxiety and trait worry, might cancel out one another. In statistics, such instances have been termed suppressor situations. In four experiments, we found evidence for such a suppressor situation: When their shared variance was controlled, trait worry was positively whereas trait anxiety was negatively related to performance in a memory task requiring strategic, effortful retrieval. We also showed that these opposing effects are related to temporal context reinstatement. Our results suggest that trait worry and trait anxiety possess unique sources of variance, which differently relate to performance in memory tasks requiring cognitive control.

Cortical and subcortical abnormalities in youths with conduct disorder and elevated callous-unemotional traits.

PubMed

Wallace, Gregory L; White, Stuart F; Robustelli, Briana; Sinclair, Stephen; Hwang, Soonjo; Martin, Alex; Blair, R James R

2014-04-01

Although there is growing evidence of brain abnormalities among individuals with conduct disorder (CD), the structural neuroimaging literature is mixed and frequently aggregates cortical volume rather than differentiating cortical thickness from surface area. The current study assesses CD-related differences in cortical thickness, surface area, and gyrification as well as volume differences in subcortical structures critical to neurodevelopmental models of CD (amygdala; striatum) in a carefully characterized sample. We also examined whether group structural differences were related to severity of callous-unemotional (CU) traits in the CD sample. Participants were 49 community adolescents aged 10 to 18 years, 22 with CD and 27 healthy comparison youth. Structural MRI was collected and the FreeSurfer image analysis suite was used to provide measures of cortical thickness, surface area, and local gyrification as well as subcortical (amygdala and striatum) volumes. Youths with CD showed reduced cortical thickness in the superior temporal cortex. There were also indications of reduced gyrification in the ventromedial frontal cortex, particularly for youths with CD without comorbid attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. There were no group differences in cortical surface area. However, youths with CD also showed reduced amygdala and striatum (putamen and pallidum) volumes. Right temporal cortical thickness was significantly inversely related to severity of CU traits. Youths with CD show reduced cortical thickness within superior temporal regions, some indication of reduced gyrification within ventromedial frontal cortex and reduced amygdala and striatum (putamen and pallidum) volumes. These results are discussed with reference to neurobiological models of CD. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Growth of highly mesoporous CuCo2O4@C core-shell arrays as advanced electrodes for high-performance supercapacitors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yan, Hailong; Lu, Yang; Zhu, Kejia; Peng, Tao; Liu, Xianming; Liu, Yunxin; Luo, Yongsong

2018-05-01

A series of CuCo2O4 nanostructures with different morphologies were prepared by a hydrothermal method in combination with thermal treatment. The morphology, structure and composition were investigated by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. As the electrode materials for supercapacitors, CuCo2O4 nanoneedles delivered the highest specific capacitance compared with other CuCo2O4 nanostructures. Electrochemical performance measurements demonstrate that the carbon layer can improve the electrochemical stability of CuCo2O4 nanoneedles. The CuCo2O4@C electrode exhibits a high specific capacitance of 1432.4 F g-1 at a current density of 1 A g-1, with capacitance retention of 98.2% after 3000 circles. These characteristics of CuCo2O4@C composite are mainly due to the unique one dimensional needle-liked architecture and the conducting carbon, which provide a faster ion/electron transfer rate. These excellent performances of the CuCo2O4@C electrode confirmed the material as a positive electrode for hybrid supercapacitor application.

Post-traumatic stress disorder and depression co-occurrence: Structural relations among disorder constructs and trait and symptom dimensions.

PubMed

Post, Loren M; Feeny, Norah C; Zoellner, Lori A; Connell, Arin M

2016-12-01

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and major depressive disorder (MDD) in response to trauma co-occur at high rates. A better understanding of the nature of this co-occurrence is critical to developing an accurate conceptualization of the disorders. This study examined structural relations among the PTSD and MDD constructs and trait and symptom dimensions within the framework of the integrative hierarchical model of anxiety and depression. Study participants completed clinician-rated and self-report measures during a pre-treatment assessment. The sample consisted of 200 treatment-seeking individuals with a primary DSM-IV PTSD diagnosis. Structural equation modelling was used to examine the relationship between the constructs. The trait negative affect/neuroticism construct had a direct effect on both PTSD and MDD. The trait positive affect/extraversion construct had a unique, negative direct effect on MDD, and PTSD had a unique, direct effect on the physical concerns symptoms construct. An alternative model with the PTSD and MDD constructs combined into an overall general traumatic stress construct produced a decrement in model fit. These findings provide a clearer understanding of the relationship between co-occurring PTSD and MDD as disorders with shared trait negative affect/neuroticism contributing to the overlap between them and unique trait positive affect/extraversion and physical concerns differentiating them. Therefore, PTSD and MDD in response to trauma may be best represented as two distinct, yet strongly related constructs. In assessing individuals who have been exposed to trauma, practitioners should recognize that co-occurring PTSD and MDD appears to be best represented as two distinct, yet strongly related constructs. Negative affect may be the shared vulnerability directly influencing both PTSD and MDD; however, in the presence of both PTSD and MDD, low positive affect appears to be more specifically related to MDD and fear of physical sensations to PTSD, which is information that could be used by practitioners in the determination of treatment approach. Overall, these findings are clinically relevant in that they may inform assessment, treatment planning, and ultimately diagnostic classification. © 2015 The British Psychological Society.

Response Monitoring and Adjustment: Differential Relations with Psychopathic Traits

PubMed Central

Bresin, Konrad; Finy, M. Sima; Sprague, Jenessa; Verona, Edelyn

2014-01-01

Studies on the relation between psychopathy and cognitive functioning often show mixed results, partially because different factors of psychopathy have not been considered fully. Based on previous research, we predicted divergent results based on a two-factor model of psychopathy (interpersonal-affective traits and impulsive-antisocial traits). Specifically, we predicted that the unique variance of interpersonal-affective traits would be related to increased monitoring (i.e., error-related negativity) and adjusting to errors (i.e., post-error slowing), whereas impulsive-antisocial traits would be related to reductions in these processes. Three studies using a diverse selection of assessment tools, samples, and methods are presented to identify response monitoring correlates of the two main factors of psychopathy. In Studies 1 (undergraduates), 2 (adolescents), and 3 (offenders), interpersonal-affective traits were related to increased adjustment following errors and, in Study 3, to enhanced monitoring of errors. Impulsive-antisocial traits were not consistently related to error adjustment across the studies, although these traits were related to a deficient monitoring of errors in Study 3. The results may help explain previous mixed findings and advance implications for etiological models of psychopathy. PMID:24933282

Dispositional malevolence and impression formation: Dark Tetrad associations with accuracy and positivity in first impressions.

PubMed

Rogers, Katherine H; Le, Marina T; Buckels, Erin E; Kim, Mikayla; Biesanz, Jeremy C

2018-02-19

The Dark Tetrad traits (subclinical psychopathy, narcissism, Machiavellianism, and everyday sadism) have interpersonal consequences. At present, however, how these traits are associated with the accuracy and positivity of first impressions is not well understood. The present article addresses three primary questions. First, to what extent are perceiver levels of Dark Tetrad traits associated with differing levels of perceptive accuracy? Second, to what extent are target levels of Dark Tetrad traits associated with differing levels of expressive accuracy? Finally, to what extent can Dark Tetrad traits be differentiated when examining perceptions of and by others? In a round-robin design, undergraduate participants (N = 412) in small groups engaged in brief, naturalistic, unstructured dyadic interactions before providing impressions of their partner. Dark Tetrad traits were associated with being viewed and viewing others less distinctively accurately and more negatively. Interpersonal perceptions that included an individual scoring highly on one of the Dark Tetrad traits differed in important ways from interactions among individuals with more benevolent personalities. Notably, despite the similarities between the Dark Tetrad, traits had unique associations with interpersonal perceptions. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Fabrication and Characterization of High Strength Al-Cu Alloys Processed Using Laser Beam Melting in Metal Powder Bed

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ahuja, Bhrigu; Karg, Michael; Nagulin, Konstantin Yu.; Schmidt, Michael

The proposed paper illustrates fabrication and characterization of high strength Aluminium Copper alloys processed using Laser Beam Melting process. Al-Cu alloys EN AW-2219 and EN AW-2618 are classified as wrought alloys and 2618 is typically considered difficult to weld. Laser Beam Melting (LBM) process from the family of Additive Manufacturing processes, has the unique ability to form fully dense complex 3D geometries using micro sized metallic powder in a layer by layer fabrication methodology. LBM process can most closely be associated to the conventional laser welding process, but has significant differences in terms of the typical laser intensities and scan speeds used. Due to the use of high intensities and fast scan speeds, the process induces extremely high heating and cooling rates. This property gives it a unique physical attribute and therefore its ability to process high strength Al-Cu alloys needs to be investigated. Experiments conducted during the investigations associate the induced energy density controlled by varying process parameters to the achieved relative densities of the fabricated 3D structures.

Electronic properties of hybrid Cu2S/Ru semiconductor/metallic-cage nanoparticles.

PubMed

Bekenstein, Yehonadav; Vinokurov, Kathy; Banin, Uri; Millo, Oded

2012-12-21

Hybrid inorganic nanoparticles, comprising a semiconducting Cu(2)S quantum-dot (QD) core encapsulated by a metallic Ru cage-like shell, and each of their individual components, are studied via scanning tunneling spectroscopy. Bare Cu(2)S QDs show nearly identical semiconducting-like I-V characteristics while the empty Ru cages exhibit single electron tunneling effects-the Coulomb blockade and staircase. Surprisingly, in some cases negative differential conductance features, with periodicity that correlates to the Coulomb staircase, were observed. The tunneling spectra measured on the hybrid QDs varies greatly along a single particle, manifesting synergetic electrical properties that originate from this unique semiconducting-metallic interface.

Direct electrochemistry of hemoglobin immobilized in CuO nanowire bundles.

PubMed

Li, Yueming; Zhang, Qian; Li, Jinghong

2010-11-15

It is one of main challenges to find the suitable materials to enhance the direct electron transfer between the electrode and redox protein for direct electrochemistry field. Nano-structured metal oxides have attracted considerable interest because of unique properties, well biocompatibility, and good stability. In this paper, the copper oxide nanowire bundles (CuO NWBs) were prepared via a template route, and the bioelectrochemical performances of hemoglobin (Hb) on the CuO NWBs modified glass carbon electrodes (denoted as Hb-CuO NWBs/GC) were studied. TEM and XRD were used to characterize the morphology and structure of the as synthesized CuO NWBs. Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) proved that Hb in the CuO NWBs matrix could retain its native secondary structure. A pair of well-defined and quasi-reversible redox peaks at approximately -0.325 V (vs. Ag/AgCl saturated KCl) were shown in the cyclic voltammogram curve for the Hb-CuO NWBs/GC electrode, which indicated the direct electrochemical behavior. The Hb-CuO NWBs/GC electrode also displayed a good electrocatalytic activity toward the reduction of hydrogen peroxide. These results indicate that the CuO NWBs are good substrates for immobilization of biomolecules and might be promising in the fields of (bio) electrochemical analysis. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Antibacterial activity of trimetal (CuZnFe) oxide nanoparticles.

PubMed

Alzahrani, Khalid E; Niazy, Abdurahman A; Alswieleh, Abdullah M; Wahab, Rizwan; El-Toni, Ahmed M; Alghamdi, Hamdan S

2018-01-01

The increasing resistance of pathogenic bacteria to antibiotics is a challenging worldwide health problem that has led to the search for new and more efficient antibacterial agents. Nanotechnology has proven to be an effective tool for the fight against bacteria. In this paper, we present the synthesis and traits of trimetal (CuZnFe) oxide nanoparticles (NPs) using X-ray diffraction, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, and energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy. We evaluated the antibacterial activity of these NPs against gram-negative Escherichia coli and gram-positive Enterococcus faecalis and then compared it to that of their pure single-metal oxide components CuO and ZnO. Our study showed that the antibacterial activity of the trimetal oxide NPs was greater against E . coli than against E . faecalis . Overall, the antimicrobial effect of trimetal NPs is between those of pure ZnO and CuO nanoparticles, which may mean that their cytotoxicity is also between that of pure ZnO and CuO NPs, making them potential antibiotics. However, the cytotoxicity of trimetal NPs to mammalian cells needs to be verified. The combination of three metal oxide NPs (ZnO, CuO, and Fe 2 O 3 ) in one multimetal (CuZnFe) oxide NPs will enhance the therapeutic strategy against a wide range of microbial infections. Bacteria are unlikely to develop resistance against this new NP because bacteria must go through a series of mutations to become resistant to the trimetal oxide NP. Therefore, this NP can combat existing and emerging bacterial infections.

The impact of prenatal maternal risk, fearless temperament and early parenting on adolescent callous-unemotional traits: a 14-year longitudinal investigation.

PubMed

Barker, Edward D; Oliver, Bonamy R; Viding, Essi; Salekin, Randall T; Maughan, Barbara

2011-08-01

Proposals have been submitted to the DSM-V for the addition of a callous-unemotional (CU) specifier for conduct problem (CP) youth (CP/CU). While the addition of such a diagnostic category may aid in the identification of homogeneous CP subtypes, evidence on risks for the development of CP/CU remains limited. The present study sought to examine the extent to which CP/CU in early adolescence could be differentiated by family- and child-based risks from pregnancy to age 4 years. Using data from approximately 7,000 mothers and their offspring (51% male) participating in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, the authors examined maternal prenatal risks (psychopathology, criminality, substance use), child's fearless temperament (age 2 years) and harsh and warm parenting (age 4 years) as predictors of CP and CU at age 13; then used follow-back analyses to explore pre- and early post-natal risks in more detail. Maternal prenatal risks increased fearless temperament and CP and CU. Fearless temperament was also prospectively associated with higher levels of early adolescent CP and CU, above and beyond parenting and prenatal maternal risks. Follow-back analyses showed fearless temperament in boys manifested as lower response to punishment cues, while for girls this temperament was indexed by boldness toward novel situations and strangers, particularly for CP/CU youth. The current findings suggest that (i) maternal prenatal risks and fearless temperament showed a dose-response relationship with CP and CU (i.e., higher clustering of risks tended to relate to both higher levels and the co-occurrence of CU with CP), and (ii) intervention programs that aim to improve behavioural outcomes may consider targeting specific temperamental features in both boys and girls. © 2011 The Authors. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry © 2011 Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.

A proteomic-based investigation of potential copper-responsive biomarkers: Proteins, conceptual networks, and metabolic pathways featuring Penicillium janthinellum from a heavy metal-polluted ecological niche.

PubMed

Feng, Xin; Xu, Jian; Liang, Yu; Chen, Guo-Li; Fan, Xian-Wei; Li, You-Zhi

2017-08-01

Filamentous fungi-copper (Cu) interactions are very important in the formation of natural ecosystems and the bioremediation of heavy metal pollution. However, important issues at the proteome level remain unclear. We compared six proteomes from Cu-resistant wild-type (WT) Penicillium janthinellum strain GXCR and a Cu-sensitive mutant (EC-6) under 0, 0.5, and 3 mmol/L Cu treatments using iTRAQ. A total of 495 known proteins were identified, and the following conclusions were drawn from the results: Cu tolerance depends on ATP generation and supply, which is relevant to glycolysis pathway activity; oxidative phosphorylation, the TCA cycle, gluconeogenesis, fatty acid synthesis, and metabolism are also affected by Cu; high Cu sensitivity is primarily due to an ATP energy deficit; among ATP generation pathways, Cu-sensitive and Cu-insensitive metabolic steps exist; gluconeogenesis pathway is crucial to the survival of fungi in Cu-containing and sugar-scarce environments; fungi change their proteomes via two routes (from ATP, ATP-dependent RNA helicases (ADRHs), and ribosome biogenesis to proteasomes and from ATP, ADRHs to spliceosomes and/or stress-adapted RNA degradosomes) to cope with changes in Cu concentrations; and unique routes exist through which fungi respond to high environmental Cu. Further, a general diagram of Cu-responsive paths and a model theory of high Cu are proposed at the proteome level. Our work not only provides the potential protein biomarkers that indicate Cu pollution and targets metabolic steps for engineering Cu-tolerant fungi during bioremediation but also presents clues for further insight into the heavy metal tolerance mechanisms of other eukaryotes. © 2017 The Authors. MicrobiologyOpen published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Evolution of copper arsenate resistance for enhanced enargite bioleaching using the extreme thermoacidophile Metallosphaera sedula.

PubMed

Ai, Chenbing; McCarthy, Samuel; Liang, Yuting; Rudrappa, Deepak; Qiu, Guanzhou; Blum, Paul

2017-12-01

Adaptive laboratory evolution (ALE) was employed to isolate arsenate and copper cross-resistant strains, from the copper-resistant M. sedula CuR1. The evolved strains, M. sedula ARS50-1 and M. sedula ARS50-2, contained 12 and 13 additional mutations, respectively, relative to M. sedula CuR1. Bioleaching capacity of a defined consortium (consisting of a naturally occurring strain and a genetically engineered copper sensitive strain) was increased by introduction of M. sedula ARS50-2, with 5.31 and 26.29% more copper recovered from enargite at a pulp density (PD) of 1 and 3% (w/v), respectively. M. sedula ARS50-2 arose as the predominant species and modulated the proportions of the other two strains after it had been introduced. Collectively, the higher Cu 2+ resistance trait of M. sedula ARS50-2 resulted in a modulated microbial community structure, and consolidating enargite bioleaching especially at elevated PD.

Social Information Processing in Children: Specific Relations to Anxiety, Depression, and Affect

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Luebbe, Aaron M.; Bell, Debora J.; Allwood, Maureen A.; Swenson, Lance P.; Early, Martha C.

2010-01-01

Two studies examined shared and unique relations of social information processing (SIP) to youth's anxious and depressive symptoms. Whether SIP added unique variance over and above trait affect in predicting internalizing symptoms was also examined. In Study 1, 215 youth (ages 8-13) completed symptom measures of anxiety and depression and a…

Mapping, fine mapping, and molecular dissection of quantitative trait Loci in domestic animals.

PubMed

Georges, Michel

2007-01-01

Artificial selection has created myriad breeds of domestic animals, each characterized by unique phenotypes pertaining to behavior, morphology, physiology, and disease. Most domestic animal populations share features with isolated founder populations, making them well suited for positional cloning. Genome sequences are now available for most domestic species, and with them a panoply of tools including high-density single-nucleotide polymorphism panels. As a result, domestic animal populations are becoming invaluable resources for studying the molecular architecture of complex traits and of adaptation. Here we review recent progress and issues in the positional identification of genes underlying complex traits in domestic animals. As many phenotypes studied in animals are quantitative, we focus on mapping, fine mapping, and cloning of quantitative trait loci.

1D Cu(OH)2 nanorod/2D SnO2 nanosheets core/shell structured array: Covering with graphene layer leads to excellent performances on lithium-ion battery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xia, Huicong; Zhang, Jianan; Chen, Zhimin; Xu, Qun

2018-05-01

A facile in-situ growth strategy is employ to achieving the two-dimensional SnO2 nanosheets/one-dimensional Cu(OH)2 nanorods nanoarchitecture on Cu foil current collector (SnO2/Cu(OH)2/Cu foil), follow by modification of a uniform layer of graphene (G). Confine with the graphene layer and unique one-dimensional/two-dimensional the nanoarchitecture, the remarkably enhance electrical conductivity and structural stability of G/SnO2/Cu(OH)2/Cu foil leads to a high reversible capacity of 1080.6 mAh g-1 at a current density of 200 mA g-1, much better than the samples without graphene (512.6 mAh g-1) and Cu(OH)2 nanorod (117.4 mAh g-1). Furthermore, G/SnO2/Cu(OH)2/Cu foil electrode shows high rate capacity (600.8 mAh g-1 at 1 A g-1) and excellent cycling stability (1057.1 mAh g-1 at 200 mA g-1 even after 500 cycles). This work highlights that increasing surface and interface effects with desirable three-dimensional nanoarchitecture can open a new avenue to electrochemical performance improvement in lithium-ion battery for SnO2-base anode.

Cucurbitacin E reduces obesity and related metabolic dysfunction in mice by targeting JAK-STAT5 signaling pathway

PubMed Central

Murtaza, Munazza; Khan, Gulnaz; Aftab, Meha Fatima; Afridi, Shabbir Khan; Ghaffar, Safina; Ahmed, Ayaz; Hafizur, Rahman M.

2017-01-01

Several members of cucurbitaceae family have been reported to regulate growth of cancer by interfering with STAT3 signaling. In the present study, we investigated the unique role and molecular mechanism of cucurbitacins (Cucs) in reducing symptoms of metabolic syndrome in mice. Cucurbitacin E (CuE) was found to reduce adipogenesis in murine adipocytes. CuE treatment diminished hypertrophy of adipocytes, visceral obesity and lipogenesis gene expression in diet induced mice model of metabolic syndrome (MetS). CuE also ameliorated adipose tissue dysfunction by reducing hyperleptinemia and TNF-alpha levels and enhancing hypoadiponectinemia. Results show that CuE mediated these effects by attenuating Jenus kinase- Signal transducer and activator of transcription 5 (JAK- STAT5) signaling in visceral fat tissue. As a result, CuE treatment also reduced PPAR gamma expression. Glucose uptake enhanced in adipocytes after stimulation with CuE and insulin resistance diminished in mice treated with CuE, as reflected by reduced glucose intolerance and glucose stimulated insulin secretion. CuE restored insulin sensitivity indirectly by inhibiting JAK phosphorylation and improving AMPK activity. Consequently, insulin signaling was up-regulated in mice muscle. As CuE positively regulated adipose tissue function and suppressed visceral obesity, dyslipedemia, hyperglycemia and insulin resistance in mice model of MetS, we suggest that CuE can be used as novel approach to treat metabolic diseases. PMID:28598969

Cucurbitacin E reduces obesity and related metabolic dysfunction in mice by targeting JAK-STAT5 signaling pathway.

PubMed

Murtaza, Munazza; Khan, Gulnaz; Aftab, Meha Fatima; Afridi, Shabbir Khan; Ghaffar, Safina; Ahmed, Ayaz; Hafizur, Rahman M; Waraich, Rizwana Sanaullah

2017-01-01

Several members of cucurbitaceae family have been reported to regulate growth of cancer by interfering with STAT3 signaling. In the present study, we investigated the unique role and molecular mechanism of cucurbitacins (Cucs) in reducing symptoms of metabolic syndrome in mice. Cucurbitacin E (CuE) was found to reduce adipogenesis in murine adipocytes. CuE treatment diminished hypertrophy of adipocytes, visceral obesity and lipogenesis gene expression in diet induced mice model of metabolic syndrome (MetS). CuE also ameliorated adipose tissue dysfunction by reducing hyperleptinemia and TNF-alpha levels and enhancing hypoadiponectinemia. Results show that CuE mediated these effects by attenuating Jenus kinase- Signal transducer and activator of transcription 5 (JAK- STAT5) signaling in visceral fat tissue. As a result, CuE treatment also reduced PPAR gamma expression. Glucose uptake enhanced in adipocytes after stimulation with CuE and insulin resistance diminished in mice treated with CuE, as reflected by reduced glucose intolerance and glucose stimulated insulin secretion. CuE restored insulin sensitivity indirectly by inhibiting JAK phosphorylation and improving AMPK activity. Consequently, insulin signaling was up-regulated in mice muscle. As CuE positively regulated adipose tissue function and suppressed visceral obesity, dyslipedemia, hyperglycemia and insulin resistance in mice model of MetS, we suggest that CuE can be used as novel approach to treat metabolic diseases.

Effect of graphene oxide on copper stress in Lemna minor L.: evaluating growth, biochemical responses, and nutrient uptake.

PubMed

Hu, Changwei; Liu, Lei; Li, Xiuling; Xu, Yundi; Ge, Zhigang; Zhao, Yongjun

2018-01-05

The wide application and unique properties of graphene oxide (GO) make it to interact with other pollutants and subsequently alter their behavior and toxicity. We evaluated the influences of GO at different concentrations (1 and 5mg/L) on copper (Cu) stress in duckweed (Lemna minor L.) GO below a concentration of 5mg/L showed no adverse effects on L. minor. The addition of Cu above 10μM represented a stress condition, which was evidenced by various parameters such as frond number, percent inhibition of growth rate (I r ), total chlorophyll content, dry weight, superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and peroxidase (POD). When L. minor was simultaneously exposed to GO and Cu, especially at a GO concentration of 5mg/L and a Cu level above 10μM, the increase of I r and decrease of chlorophyll content were inhibited, suggesting that the Cu stress was diminished in the presence of GO. The addition of Cu alone, ranging between 5 and 20μM, increased Cu, B, Mn, Fe, Co, and Zn uptake, but decreased P uptake. Our results suggest that GO can lessen Cu stress in L. minor via Cu adsorption, thereby protecting the plants from the damaging effects of high Cu concentrations. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Production of 64Cu and 67Cu radiopharmaceuticals using zinc target irradiated with accelerator neutrons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kawabata, Masako; Hashimoto, Kazuyuki; Saeki, Hideya; Sato, Nozomi; Motoishi, Shoji; Nagai, Yasuki

2014-09-01

Copper radioisotopes have gained a lot of attention in radiopharmaceuticals owing to their unique decay characteristics. The longest half-life β emitter, 67Cu, is thought to be suitable for targeted radio-immunotherapy. Adequate production of 67Cu to meet the demands of clinical studies has not been fully established. Another attractive copper isotope, 64Cu has possible applications as a diagnostic imaging tracer combined with a therapeutic effect. This work proposes a production method using accelerator neutrons in which two copper radioisotopes can be produced: 1) 68Zn(n,x)67Cu and 2) 64Zn(n,p)64Cu using ~14 MeV neutrons generated by natC(d, n) reaction, both from natural or enriched zinc oxides. The generated 64,67Cu were separated from the target zinc oxide using a chelating and an anion exchange columns and were labelled with two widely studied chelators where the labelling efficiency was found to be acceptably good. The major advantage of this method is that a significant amount of 64,67Cu with a very few impurity radionuclides are produced which also makes the separation procedure simple. Provided an accelerator supplying an Ed = ~ 40 MeV, a wide application of 64,67Cu based drugs in nuclear medicine is feasible in the near future. We will present the characteristics of this production method using accelerator neutrons including the chemical separation processes.

Antisite defects in layered multiferroic CuCr0.9In0.1P2S6

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

He, Qian; Belianinov, Alex; Dziaugys, Andrius; Maksymovych, Petro; Vysochanskii, Yulian; Kalinin, Sergei V.; Borisevich, Albina Y.

2015-11-01

The CuCr1-xInxP2S6 system represents a large family of metal chalcogenophosphates that are unique and promising candidates for 2D materials with functionalities such as ferroelectricity. In this work, we carried out detailed microstructural and chemical characterization of these compounds using aberration-corrected STEM, in order to understand the origin of these different ordering phenomena. Quantitative STEM-HAADF imaging and analysis identified the stacking order of an 8-layer thin flake, which leads to the identification of anti-site In3+(Cu+) doping. We believe that these findings will pave the way towards understanding the ferroic coupling phenomena in van der Waals lamellar compounds, as well as their potential applications in 2-D electronics.The CuCr1-xInxP2S6 system represents a large family of metal chalcogenophosphates that are unique and promising candidates for 2D materials with functionalities such as ferroelectricity. In this work, we carried out detailed microstructural and chemical characterization of these compounds using aberration-corrected STEM, in order to understand the origin of these different ordering phenomena. Quantitative STEM-HAADF imaging and analysis identified the stacking order of an 8-layer thin flake, which leads to the identification of anti-site In3+(Cu+) doping. We believe that these findings will pave the way towards understanding the ferroic coupling phenomena in van der Waals lamellar compounds, as well as their potential applications in 2-D electronics. Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available. See DOI: 10.1039/c5nr04779j

Heritability estimates of the Big Five personality traits based on common genetic variants.

PubMed

Power, R A; Pluess, M

2015-07-14

According to twin studies, the Big Five personality traits have substantial heritable components explaining 40-60% of the variance, but identification of associated genetic variants has remained elusive. Consequently, knowledge regarding the molecular genetic architecture of personality and to what extent it is shared across the different personality traits is limited. Using genomic-relatedness-matrix residual maximum likelihood analysis (GREML), we here estimated the heritability of the Big Five personality factors (extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism and openness for experience) in a sample of 5011 European adults from 527,469 single-nucleotide polymorphisms across the genome. We tested for the heritability of each personality trait, as well as for the genetic overlap between the personality factors. We found significant and substantial heritability estimates for neuroticism (15%, s.e. = 0.08, P = 0.04) and openness (21%, s.e. = 0.08, P < 0.01), but not for extraversion, agreeableness and conscientiousness. The bivariate analyses showed that the variance explained by common variants entirely overlapped between neuroticism and openness (rG = 1.00, P < 0.001), despite low phenotypic correlation (r = - 0.09, P < 0.001), suggesting that the remaining unique heritability may be determined by rare or structural variants. As far as we are aware of, this is the first study estimating the shared and unique heritability of all Big Five personality traits using the GREML approach. Findings should be considered exploratory and suggest that detectable heritability estimates based on common variants is shared between neuroticism and openness to experiences.

Genetic loci associated with coronary artery disease harbor evidence of selection and antagonistic pleiotropy.

PubMed

Byars, Sean G; Huang, Qin Qin; Gray, Lesley-Ann; Bakshi, Andrew; Ripatti, Samuli; Abraham, Gad; Stearns, Stephen C; Inouye, Michael

2017-06-01

Traditional genome-wide scans for positive selection have mainly uncovered selective sweeps associated with monogenic traits. While selection on quantitative traits is much more common, very few signals have been detected because of their polygenic nature. We searched for positive selection signals underlying coronary artery disease (CAD) in worldwide populations, using novel approaches to quantify relationships between polygenic selection signals and CAD genetic risk. We identified new candidate adaptive loci that appear to have been directly modified by disease pressures given their significant associations with CAD genetic risk. These candidates were all uniquely and consistently associated with many different male and female reproductive traits suggesting selection may have also targeted these because of their direct effects on fitness. We found that CAD loci are significantly enriched for lifetime reproductive success relative to the rest of the human genome, with evidence that the relationship between CAD and lifetime reproductive success is antagonistic. This supports the presence of antagonistic-pleiotropic tradeoffs on CAD loci and provides a novel explanation for the maintenance and high prevalence of CAD in modern humans. Lastly, we found that positive selection more often targeted CAD gene regulatory variants using HapMap3 lymphoblastoid cell lines, which further highlights the unique biological significance of candidate adaptive loci underlying CAD. Our study provides a novel approach for detecting selection on polygenic traits and evidence that modern human genomes have evolved in response to CAD-induced selection pressures and other early-life traits sharing pleiotropic links with CAD.

Weak coordination between leaf structure and function among closely related tomato species.

PubMed

Muir, Christopher D; Conesa, Miquel À; Roldán, Emilio J; Molins, Arántzazu; Galmés, Jeroni

2017-03-01

Theory predicts that natural selection should favor coordination between leaf physiology, biochemistry and anatomical structure along a functional trait spectrum from fast, resource-acquisitive syndromes to slow, resource-conservative syndromes. However, the coordination hypothesis has rarely been tested at a phylogenetic scale most relevant for understanding rapid adaptation in the recent past or for the prediction of evolutionary trajectories in response to climate change. We used a common garden to examine genetically based coordination between leaf traits across 19 wild and cultivated tomato taxa. We found weak integration between leaf structure (e.g. leaf mass per area) and physiological function (photosynthetic rate, biochemical capacity and CO 2 diffusion), even though all were arrayed in the predicted direction along a 'fast-slow' spectrum. This suggests considerable scope for unique trait combinations to evolve in response to new environments or in crop breeding. In particular, we found that partially independent variation in stomatal and mesophyll conductance may allow a plant to improve water-use efficiency without necessarily sacrificing maximum photosynthetic rates. Our study does not imply that functional trait spectra, such as the leaf economics spectrum, are unimportant, but that many important axes of variation within a taxonomic group may be unique and not generalizable to other taxa. © 2016 The Authors. New Phytologist © 2016 New Phytologist Trust.

Copper(II) tungstate nanoflake array films: sacrificial template synthesis, hydrogen treatment, and their application as photoanodes in solar water splitting.

PubMed

Hu, Dianyi; Diao, Peng; Xu, Di; Xia, Mengyang; Gu, Yue; Wu, Qingyong; Li, Chao; Yang, Shubin

2016-03-21

We report the preparation of CuWO4 nanoflake (NF) array films by using a solid phase reaction method in which WO3 NFs were employed as sacrificial templates. The SEM, TEM and XRD results demonstrated that the obtained CuWO4 films possessed a network structure that was composed of single crystalline NFs intersected with each other. The CuWO4 NF films showed superior photoelectrochemical (PEC) activity to other CuWO4 photoanodes reported recently for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). We attributed the high activity to the unique morphological and crystalline structure of the CuWO4 film, which enhanced the photoactivity by providing a large specific area, a short hole transport distance from the inside of CuWO4 to the CuWO4/solution interface, and a low grain boundary density. Hydrogen treatment by annealing the CuWO4 NF film in mixed gases of H2 and Ar could further enhance the photoactivity, as hydrogen treatment significantly increased the electron density of CuWO4 by generating oxygen vacancy in the lattice. The photocurrent density for OER obtained on the hydrogen-treated (H-treated) CuWO4 NF film is the largest ever reported on CuWO4 photoanodes in the literature. Moreover, the CuWO4 photoanodes exhibit good stability in weak alkaline solution, while the H-treated CuWO4 photoanodes exhibit acceptable stability. This work not only reveals the potential of CuWO4 as a photoanode material for solar water splitting but also shows that the construction of nanostructured CuWO4 photoanodes is a promising method to achieve high PEC activity toward OER.

Characterisation of [Cu4S], the catalytic site in nitrous oxide reductase, by EPR spectroscopy.

PubMed

Oganesyan, Vasily S; Rasmussen, Tim; Fairhurst, Shirley; Thomson, Andrew J

2004-04-07

The enzyme nitrous oxide reductase (N(2)OR) has a unique tetranuclear copper centre [Cu(4)S], called Cu(Z), at the catalytic site for the two-electron reduction of N(2)O to N(2). The X- and Q-band EPR spectra have been recorded from two forms of the catalytic site of the enzyme N(2)OR from Paracoccus pantotrophus, namely, a form prepared anaerobically, Cu(Z), that undergoes a one-electron redox cycle and Cu(Z)*, prepared aerobically, which cannot be redox cycled. The spectra of both species are axial with that of Cu(Z) showing a rich hyperfine splitting in the g||-region at X-band. DFT calculations were performed to gain insight into the electronic configuration and ground-state properties of Cu(Z) and to calculate EPR parameters. The results for the oxidation state [Cu(+1)(3)Cu(+2)(1)S](3+) are in good agreement with values obtained from the fitting of experimental spectra, confirming the absolute oxidation state of Cu(Z). The unpaired spin density in this configuration is delocalised over four copper ions, thus, Cu(I) 20.1%, Cu(II) 9.5%, Cu(III) 4.8% and Cu(IV) 9.2%, the mu(4)-sulfide ion and oxygen ligand. The three copper ions carrying the highest spin density plus the sulfide ion lie approximately in the same plane while the fourth copper ion is perpendicular to this plane and carries only 4.8% spin density. It is suggested that the atoms in this plane represent the catalytic core of Cu(Z), allowing electron redistribution within the plane during interaction with the substrate, N(2)O.

Effect of nanostructured carbon support on copper electrocatalytic activity toward CO 2 electroreduction to hydrocarbon fuels

DOE PAGES

Baturina, Olga; Lu, Qin; Xu, Feng; ...

2016-11-10

The effect of support on electrocatalytic activity of Cu nanoparticles (NPs) towards CO 2 electroreduction to hydrocarbon fuels (CH 4 and C 2H 4) is investigated for three types of nanostructured carbons: single wall carbon nanotubes (SWNT), graphene (GP) and onion-like carbon (OLC). Cu/SWNT, Cu/GP and Cu/OLC composite catalysts are synthesized and characterized by X-Ray diffraction analysis, transmission electron microscopy and electrochemical surface area measurements. Electrocatalytic activities of the synthesized materials, as measured in an electrochemical cell connected to a gas chromatograph, are compared to that of Cu NPs supported on Vulcan carbon. All four catalysts demonstrate higher activity towardsmore » C 2H 4 generation vs CH 4, with production of the latter mostly suppressed on Cu NPs supported on nanostructured substrates. Onset potentials for C 2H 4 vs CH 4 generation are shifted positively by 200 mV for Cu/SWNT, Cu/GP, and Cu/OLC catalysts. The Cu/OLC catalyst is found to be superior to the other two nanostructured catalysts in terms of stability, activity and selectivity towards C 2H 4 generation. Its faradaic efficiency reached 60% at -1.8 V vs Ag/AgCl. The enhanced activity and stability of Cu/OLC catalyst can be attributed to the unique catalyst design, wherein a shell of OLC surrounds the Cu NPs such that the outer layer acts as a filter that protects the Cu surface from adsorption of undesirable species, enhances its electrocatalytic performance, and improves its viability in CO 2 electroreduction reaction.« less

Effect of nanostructured carbon support on copper electrocatalytic activity toward CO 2 electroreduction to hydrocarbon fuels

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Baturina, Olga; Lu, Qin; Xu, Feng

The effect of support on electrocatalytic activity of Cu nanoparticles (NPs) towards CO 2 electroreduction to hydrocarbon fuels (CH 4 and C 2H 4) is investigated for three types of nanostructured carbons: single wall carbon nanotubes (SWNT), graphene (GP) and onion-like carbon (OLC). Cu/SWNT, Cu/GP and Cu/OLC composite catalysts are synthesized and characterized by X-Ray diffraction analysis, transmission electron microscopy and electrochemical surface area measurements. Electrocatalytic activities of the synthesized materials, as measured in an electrochemical cell connected to a gas chromatograph, are compared to that of Cu NPs supported on Vulcan carbon. All four catalysts demonstrate higher activity towardsmore » C 2H 4 generation vs CH 4, with production of the latter mostly suppressed on Cu NPs supported on nanostructured substrates. Onset potentials for C 2H 4 vs CH 4 generation are shifted positively by 200 mV for Cu/SWNT, Cu/GP, and Cu/OLC catalysts. The Cu/OLC catalyst is found to be superior to the other two nanostructured catalysts in terms of stability, activity and selectivity towards C 2H 4 generation. Its faradaic efficiency reached 60% at -1.8 V vs Ag/AgCl. The enhanced activity and stability of Cu/OLC catalyst can be attributed to the unique catalyst design, wherein a shell of OLC surrounds the Cu NPs such that the outer layer acts as a filter that protects the Cu surface from adsorption of undesirable species, enhances its electrocatalytic performance, and improves its viability in CO 2 electroreduction reaction.« less

Shape memory effect in nanosized Ti2NiCu alloy-based composites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Irzhak, A. V.; Lega, P. V.; Zhikharev, A. M.; Koledov, V. V.; Orlov, A. P.; Kuchin, D. S.; Tabachkova, N. Yu.; Dikan, V. A.; Shelyakov, A. V.; Beresin, M. Yu.; Pushin, V. G.; von Gratowski, S. V.; Pokrovskiy, V. Ya.; Zybtsev, S. G.; Shavrov, V. G.

2017-01-01

The shape memory effect (SME) in alloys with a thermoelastic martensite transition opens unique opportunities for the creation of miniature mechanical devices. The SME has been studied in layered composite microstructures consisting of a Ti2NiCu alloy and platinum. It occurs upon a decrease in the active layer thickness at least to 80 nm. Some physical and technological restrictions on the minimum size of a material with SME are discussed.

Production of superconductor/carbon bicomponent fibers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wise, S. A.; Fain, C. C.; Leigh, H. D.

1991-01-01

Certain materials are unable to be drawn or spun into fiber form due to their improper melting characteristics or brittleness. However, fibrous samples of such materials are often necessary for the fabrication of intricate shapes and composites. In response to this problem, a unique process, referred to as the piggyback process, was developed to prepare fibrous samples of a variety of nonspinnable ceramics. In this technique, specially produced C shaped carbon fibers serve as micromolds to hold the desired materials prior to sintering. Depending on the sintering atmosphere used, bicomponent or single component fibers result. While much has been shown worldwide concerning the YBa2Cu3O(7-x) superconductor, fabrication into unique forms has proven quite difficult. However, a variety of intricate shapes are necessary for rapid commercialization of the superconducting materials. The potential for producing fibrous samples of the YBa2Cu3O(7-x) compound by the piggyback process is being studied. Various organic and acrylic materials were studied to determine suspending ability, reactivity with the YBa2Cu3O(7-x) compound during long term storage, and burn out characteristics. While many questions were answered with respect to the interfacial reactions between YBa2Cu3O(7-x) and carbon, much work is still necessary to improve the quality of the sintered material if the fibers produced are to be incorporated into useful composite or cables.

Cytotoxicity of cuprous oxide nanoparticles to fish blood cells: hemolysis and internalization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Li Qiang; Kang, Bin; Ling, Jian

2013-03-01

Cuprous oxide nanoparticles (Cu2O NPs) possess unique physical and chemical properties which are employed in a broad variety of applications. However, little is known about the adverse effects of Cu2O NPs on organisms. In the current study, in vitro cytotoxicity of Cu2O NPs (ca. 60 nm in diameter) to the blood cells of freshwater fish Carassius auratus was evaluated. A concentration-dependent hemolytic activity of Cu2O NPs to red blood cells (RBCs) and the phagocytosis of Cu2O NPs by leukocytes were revealed. The results showed that dosages of Cu2O NPs greater than 40 μg/mL were toxic to blood cells, and could cause serious membrane damage to RBCs. The EC50 value of Cu2O NPs as obtained from RBCs and whole blood exposure was 26 and 63 μg/mL, respectively. The generation of reactive oxygen species and the direct interaction between Cu2O NPs and the cell membrane were suggested as the possible mechanism for cytotoxicity, and the intrinsic hemolytic active of Cu2O NPs was the main contributor to the toxicity rather than solubilized copper ions. The adsorption of plasma proteins on the surfaces of Cu2O NPs led to their aggregation in whole blood, and aggregate formation can significantly alleviate the hemolytic effect and subsequently mediate the phagocytosis of Cu2O NPs by leukocytes.

Overlap between autistic and schizotypal personality traits is not accounted for by anxiety and depression.

PubMed

Mealey, Alex; Abbott, Gavin; Byrne, Linda K; McGillivray, Jane

2014-10-30

Autism spectrum and schizophrenia spectrum disorders are classified separately in the DSM-5, yet research indicates that these two disorders share overlapping features. The aim of the present study was to examine the overlap between autistic and schizotypal personality traits and whether anxiety and depression act as confounding variables in this relationship within a non-clinical population. One hundred and forty-four adults completed the Autism Spectrum Quotient and the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire and the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales-21. A number of associations were seen between autistic and schizotypal personality traits. However, negative traits were the only schizotypal feature to uniquely predict global autistic traits, thus highlighting the importance of interpersonal qualities in the overlap of autistic and schizotypal characteristics. The inclusion of anxiety and depression did not alter relationships between autistic and schizotypal traits, indicating that anxiety and depression are not confounders of this relationship. These findings have important implications for the conceptualisation of both disorders. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Autistic traits and social anxiety predict differential performance on social cognitive tasks in typically developing young adults

PubMed Central

Burk, Joshua A.; Fleckenstein, Katarina; Kozikowski, C. Teal

2018-01-01

The current work examined the unique contribution that autistic traits and social anxiety have on tasks examining attention and emotion processing. In Study 1, 119 typically-developing college students completed a flanker task assessing the control of attention to target faces and away from distracting faces during emotion identification. In Study 2, 208 typically-developing college students performed a visual search task which required identification of whether a series of 8 or 16 emotional faces depicted the same or different emotions. Participants with more self-reported autistic traits performed more slowly on the flanker task in Study 1 than those with fewer autistic traits when stimuli depicted complex emotions. In Study 2, participants higher in social anxiety performed less accurately on trials showing all complex faces; participants with autistic traits showed no differences. These studies suggest that traits related to autism and to social anxiety differentially impact social cognitive processing. PMID:29596523

Copper nanoclusters as probes for turn-on fluorescence sensing of L-lysine.

PubMed

Zhang, Mingming; Qiao, Juan; Zhang, Shufeng; Qi, Li

2018-05-15

Herein, a unique protocol based on copper nanoclusters (CuNCs) probe for turn-on fluorescence sensing of L-lysine was developed. The fluorescent CuNCs with ovalbumin as the stabilizer was prepared by a simple, one-step and green method. When 370 nm was used as the excitation wavelength, the resultant CuNCs exhibited a pale blue fluorescence with the maximum emission at 440 nm. Interestingly, existence of L-lysine evoked the obvious fluorescence intensity increase of CuNCs. The detection limit of the proposed method for L-lysine was 5.5 μM, with a good linear range from 10.0 μM to 1.0 mM (r 2 = 0.999). Moreover, the possible mechanism for enhanced fluorescence intensity of CuNCs by addition of L-lysine was explored and discussed briefly. Further, the as-prepared fluorescent CuNCs was successfully applied in detection of L-lysine in urine. Our results demonstrated that L-lysine could be monitored by the probe, providing new path for construction of CuNCs as fluorescent probes and showing great potential in quantification of L-lysine in real samples. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Photoelectrodes based on 2D opals assembled from Cu-delafossite double-shelled microspheres for an enhanced photoelectrochemical response.

PubMed

Oh, Yunjung; Yang, Wooseok; Tan, Jeiwan; Lee, Hyungsoo; Park, Jaemin; Moon, Jooho

2018-02-22

Although a unique light-harvesting property was recently demonstrated in a photocathode based on 2-dimensional (2D) opals of CuFeO 2 -shelled SiO 2 microspheres, the performance of a monolayer of ultra-thin CuFeO 2 -shelled microspheres is limited by ineffective charge separation. Herein, we propose an innovative design rule, in which an inner CuFeO 2 /outer CuAlO 2 double-shelled heterojunction is formed on each partially etched microsphere to obtain a hexagonally assembled 2D opal photoelectrode. Our Cu-delafossite double-shelled photocathode shows a dramatically improved charge separation capability, with a 9-fold increase in the photocurrent compared to that of the single-shelled counterpart. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy clearly confirms the reduced charge transport/transfer resistance associated with the Cu-delafossite double-shelled photocathode, while surface photovoltage spectra reveal enhanced polarization of the photogenerated carrier, indicating improved charge separation capability with the aid of the heterojunction. Our finding sheds light on the importance of heterojunction interfaces in achieving optimal charge separation in opal architectures as well as the inner-shell/electrolyte interface to expedite charge separation/transport.

Facile solid-state synthesis of highly dispersed Cu nanospheres anchored on coal-based activated carbons as an efficient heterogeneous catalyst for the reduction of 4-nitrophenol

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Shan; Gao, Shasha; Tang, Yakun; Wang, Lei; Jia, Dianzeng; Liu, Lang

2018-04-01

Coal-based activated carbons (AC) were acted as the support, Cu/AC catalysts were synthesized by a facile solid-state reaction combined with subsequent heat treatment. In Cu/AC composites, highly dispersed Cu nanospheres were anchored on AC. The catalytic activity for 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) was investigated, the effects of activation temperature and copper loading on the catalytic performance were studied. The catalysts exhibited very high catalytic activity and moderate chemical stability due to the unique characteristics of the particle-assembled nanostructures, the high surface area and the porous structure of coal-based AC and the good dispersion of metal particles. Design and preparation of non-noble metal composite catalysts provide a new direction for improving the added value of coal.

In-situ XRD and EDS method study on the oxidation behaviour of Ni-Cu sulphide ore.

PubMed

Li, Guangshi; Cheng, Hongwei; Xiong, Xiaolu; Lu, Xionggang; Xu, Cong; Lu, Changyuan; Zou, Xingli; Xu, Qian

2017-06-12

The oxidation mechanism of sulfides is the key issue during the sulphide-metallurgy process. In this study, the phase transformation and element migration were clearly demonstrated by in-situ laboratory-based X-ray diffraction (XRD) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), respectively. The reaction sequence and a four-step oxidation mechanism were proposed and identified. The elemental distribution demonstrated that at a low temperature, the Fe atoms diffused outward and the Ni/Cu atoms migrated toward the inner core, whereas the opposite diffusion processes were observed at a higher temperature. Importantly, the unique visual presentation of the oxidation behaviour provided by the combination of in-situ XRD and EDS might be useful for optimising the process parameters to improve the Ni/Cu extraction efficiency during Ni-Cu sulphide metallurgy.

Compositional partitioning during the spinodal decomposition in Cu-Ni-Sn alloy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Basak, C. B.; Poswal, A. K.

2018-05-01

Spinodal decomposition in Cu-9.4at%Ni-3.1at%Sn alloy was elucidated with the new insight from the experimental EXAFS analysis supported by ab initio total energy calculations suggesting the strong influence of the first near-neighbour atoms. Enthalpy of mixing was calculated for all crystallographically unique first near-neighbour configurations and finally an average positive enthalpy of mixing of 1604 J/mol was obtained. Combination of ab initio results, XRD and EXAFS analysis indicate that one of the daughter phase becomes rich in Ni and Sn than the other phase; in contrary to the earlier proposition that Cu/Ni ratio remains constant in both daughter phases. It is also shown that the present thermodynamic description requires further refinement to extend the miscibility gap towards lower Ni content in Cu-Ni-Sn system.

Discovery of a Superconducting Cu-Bi Intermetallic Compound by High-Pressure Synthesis

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Clarke, Samantha M.; Walsh, James P. S.; Amsler, Maximilian

A new intermetallic compound, the first to be structurally identified in the Cu-Bi binary system, is reported. This compound is accessed by high-pressure reaction of the elements. Its detailed characterization, physical property measurements, and ab initio calculations are described. The commensurate crystal structure of Cu 11Bi 7 is a unique variation of the NiAs structure type. Temperature-dependent electrical resistivity and heat capacity measurements reveal a bulk superconducting transition at T c=1.36 K. Density functional theory calculations further demonstrate that Cu 11Bi 7 can be stabilized (relative to decomposition into the elements) at high pressure and temperature. These results highlight themore » ability of high-pressure syntheses to allow for inroads into heretofore-undiscovered intermetallic systems for which no thermodynamically stable binaries are known.« less

Sensitive electrochemical nonenzymatic glucose sensing based on anodized CuO nanowires on three-dimensional porous copper foam

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Zhenzhen; Chen, Yan; Xin, Yanmei; Zhang, Zhonghai

2015-11-01

In this work, we proposed to utilize three-dimensional porous copper foam (CF) as conductive substrate and precursor of in-situ growth CuO nanowires (NWs) for fabricating electrochemical nonenzymatic glucose sensors. The CF supplied high surface area due to its unique three-dimensional porous foam structure, and thus resulted in high sensitivity for glucose detection. The CuO NWs/CF based nonenzymatic sensors presented reliable selectivity, good repeatability, reproducibility, and stability. In addition, the CuO NWs/CF based nonenzymatic sensors have been employed for practical applications, and the glucose concentration in human serum was measured to be 4.96 ± 0.06 mM, agreed well with the value measured from the commercial available glucose sensor in hospital, and the glucose concentration in saliva was also estimated to be 0.91 ± 0.04 mM, which indicated that the CuO NWs/CF owned the possibility for noninvasive glucose detection. The rational design of CuO NWs/CF provided an efficient strategy for fabricating of electrochemical nonenzymatic biosensors.

Sensitive electrochemical nonenzymatic glucose sensing based on anodized CuO nanowires on three-dimensional porous copper foam

PubMed Central

Li, Zhenzhen; Chen, Yan; Xin, Yanmei; Zhang, Zhonghai

2015-01-01

In this work, we proposed to utilize three-dimensional porous copper foam (CF) as conductive substrate and precursor of in-situ growth CuO nanowires (NWs) for fabricating electrochemical nonenzymatic glucose sensors. The CF supplied high surface area due to its unique three-dimensional porous foam structure, and thus resulted in high sensitivity for glucose detection. The CuO NWs/CF based nonenzymatic sensors presented reliable selectivity, good repeatability, reproducibility, and stability. In addition, the CuO NWs/CF based nonenzymatic sensors have been employed for practical applications, and the glucose concentration in human serum was measured to be 4.96 ± 0.06 mM, agreed well with the value measured from the commercial available glucose sensor in hospital, and the glucose concentration in saliva was also estimated to be 0.91 ± 0.04 mM, which indicated that the CuO NWs/CF owned the possibility for noninvasive glucose detection. The rational design of CuO NWs/CF provided an efficient strategy for fabricating of electrochemical nonenzymatic biosensors. PMID:26522446

ZnO/Cu nanocomposite: a platform for direct electrochemistry of enzymes and biosensing applications.

PubMed

Yang, Chi; Xu, Chunxiang; Wang, Xuemei

2012-03-06

Unique structured nanomaterials can facilitate the direct electron transfer between redox proteins and the electrodes. Here, in situ directed growth on an electrode of a ZnO/Cu nanocomposite was prepared by a simple corrosion approach, which enables robust mechanical adhesion and electrical contact between the nanostructured ZnO and the electrodes. This is great help to realize the direct electron transfer between the electrode surface and the redox protein. SEM images demonstrate that the morphology of the ZnO/Cu nanocomposite has a large specific surface area, which is favorable to immobilize the biomolecules and construct biosensors. Using glucose oxidase (GOx) as a model, this ZnO/Cu nanocomposite is employed for immobilization of GOx and the construction of the glucose biosensor. Direct electron transfer of GOx is achieved at ZnO/Cu nanocomposite with a high heterogeneous electron transfer rate constant of 0.67 ± 0.06 s(-1). Such ZnO/Cu nanocomposite provides a good matrix for direct electrochemistry of enzymes and mediator-free enzymatic biosensors.

Morphometricity as a measure of the neuroanatomical signature of a trait.

PubMed

Sabuncu, Mert R; Ge, Tian; Holmes, Avram J; Smoller, Jordan W; Buckner, Randy L; Fischl, Bruce

2016-09-27

Complex physiological and behavioral traits, including neurological and psychiatric disorders, often associate with distributed anatomical variation. This paper introduces a global metric, called morphometricity, as a measure of the anatomical signature of different traits. Morphometricity is defined as the proportion of phenotypic variation that can be explained by macroscopic brain morphology. We estimate morphometricity via a linear mixed-effects model that uses an anatomical similarity matrix computed based on measurements derived from structural brain MRI scans. We examined over 3,800 unique MRI scans from nine large-scale studies to estimate the morphometricity of a range of phenotypes, including clinical diagnoses such as Alzheimer's disease, and nonclinical traits such as measures of cognition. Our results demonstrate that morphometricity can provide novel insights about the neuroanatomical correlates of a diverse set of traits, revealing associations that might not be detectable through traditional statistical techniques.

‘Particle genetics’: treating every cell as unique

PubMed Central

Yvert, Gaël

2014-01-01

Genotype-phenotype relations are usually inferred from a deterministic point of view. For example, quantitative trait loci (QTL), which describe regions of the genome associated with a particular phenotype, are based on a mean trait difference between genotype categories. However, living systems comprise huge numbers of cells (the ‘particles’ of biology). Each cell can exhibit substantial phenotypic individuality, which can have dramatic consequences at the organismal level. Now, with technology capable of interrogating individual cells, it is time to consider how genotypes shape the probability laws of single cell traits. The possibility of mapping single cell probabilistic trait loci (PTL), which link genomic regions to probabilities of cellular traits, is a promising step in this direction. This approach requires thinking about phenotypes in probabilistic terms, a concept that statistical physicists have been applying to particles for a century. Here, I describe PTL and discuss their potential to enlarge our understanding of genotype-phenotype relations. PMID:24315431

Morphometricity as a measure of the neuroanatomical signature of a trait

PubMed Central

Sabuncu, Mert R.; Ge, Tian; Holmes, Avram J.; Smoller, Jordan W.; Buckner, Randy L.; Fischl, Bruce

2016-01-01

Complex physiological and behavioral traits, including neurological and psychiatric disorders, often associate with distributed anatomical variation. This paper introduces a global metric, called morphometricity, as a measure of the anatomical signature of different traits. Morphometricity is defined as the proportion of phenotypic variation that can be explained by macroscopic brain morphology. We estimate morphometricity via a linear mixed-effects model that uses an anatomical similarity matrix computed based on measurements derived from structural brain MRI scans. We examined over 3,800 unique MRI scans from nine large-scale studies to estimate the morphometricity of a range of phenotypes, including clinical diagnoses such as Alzheimer’s disease, and nonclinical traits such as measures of cognition. Our results demonstrate that morphometricity can provide novel insights about the neuroanatomical correlates of a diverse set of traits, revealing associations that might not be detectable through traditional statistical techniques. PMID:27613854

Clinical and personality traits in emotional disorders: Evidence of a common framework.

PubMed

Mahaffey, Brittain L; Watson, David; Clark, Lee Anna; Kotov, Roman

2016-08-01

Certain clinical traits (e.g., ruminative response style, self-criticism, perfectionism, anxiety sensitivity, fear of negative evaluation, and thought suppression) increase the risk for and chronicity of emotional disorders. Similar to traditional personality traits, they are considered dispositional and typically show high temporal stability. Because the personality and clinical-traits literatures evolved largely independently, connections between them are not fully understood. We sought to map the interface between a widely studied set of clinical and personality traits. Two samples (N = 385 undergraduates; N = 188 psychiatric outpatients) completed measures of personality traits, clinical traits, and an interview-based assessment of emotional-disorder symptoms. First, the joint factor structure of these traits was examined in each sample. Second, structural equation modeling was used to clarify the effects of clinical traits in the prediction of clinical symptoms beyond negative temperament. Third, the incremental validity of clinical traits beyond a more comprehensive set of higher-order and lower-order personality traits was examined using hierarchical regression. Clinical and personality traits were highly correlated and jointly defined a 3-factor structure-Negative Temperament, Positive Temperament, and Disinhibition-in both samples, with all clinical traits loading on the Negative Temperament factor. Clinical traits showed modest but significant incremental validity in explaining symptoms after accounting for personality traits. These data indicate that clinical traits relevant to emotional disorders fit well within the traditional personality framework and offer some unique contributions to the prediction of psychopathology, but it is important to distinguish their effects from negative temperament/neuroticism. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Frontopolar activity and connectivity support dynamic conscious augmentation of creative state.

PubMed

Green, Adam E; Cohen, Michael S; Raab, Hillary A; Yedibalian, Christopher G; Gray, Jeremy R

2015-03-01

No ability is more valued in the modern innovation-fueled economy than thinking creatively on demand, and the "thinking cap" capacity to augment state creativity (i.e., to try and succeed at thinking more creatively) is of broad importance for education and a rich mental life. Although brain-based creativity research has focused on static individual differences in trait creativity, less is known about changes in creative state within an individual. How does the brain augment state creativity when creative thinking is required? Can augmented creative state be consciously engaged and disengaged dynamically across time? Using a novel "thin slice" creativity paradigm in 55 fMRI participants performing verb-generation, we successfully cued large, conscious, short-duration increases in state creativity, indexed quantitatively by a measure of semantic distance derived via latent semantic analysis. A region of left frontopolar cortex, previously associated with creative integration of semantic information, exhibited increased activity and functional connectivity to anterior cingulate gyrus and right frontopolar cortex during cued augmentation of state creativity. Individual differences in the extent of increased activity in this region predicted individual differences in the extent to which participants were able to successfully augment state creative performance after accounting for trait creativity and intelligence. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Crystal structure across the β to α phase transition in thermoelectric Cu 2–xSe

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Eikeland, Espen; Blichfeld, Anders B.; Borup, Kasper A.

Here, the crystal structure uniquely imparts the specific properties of a material, and thus provides the starting point for any quantitative understanding of thermoelectric properties. Cu 2–xSe is an intensely studied high performing, non-toxic and cheap thermoelectric material, and here for the first time, the average structure of β-Cu 2–xSe is reported based on analysis of multi-temperature single-crystal X-ray diffraction data. It consists of Se–Cu layers with additional copper between every alternate layer. The structural changes during the peculiar zT enhancing phase transition mainly consist of changes in the inter-layer distance coupled with subtle Cu migration. Just prior to themore » transition the structure exhibits strong negative thermal expansion due to the reordering of Cu atoms, when approached from low temperatures. The phase transition is fully reversible and group–subgroup symmetry relations are derived that relate the low-temperature β-phase to the high-temperature α-phase. Weak superstructure reflections are observed and a possible Cu ordering is proposed. The structural rearrangement may have a significant impact on the band structure and the Cu rearrangement may also be linked to an entropy increase. Both factors potentially contribute to the extraordinary zT enhancement across the phase transition.« less

Crystal structure across the β to α phase transition in thermoelectric Cu 2–xSe

DOE PAGES

Eikeland, Espen; Blichfeld, Anders B.; Borup, Kasper A.; ...

2017-06-13

Here, the crystal structure uniquely imparts the specific properties of a material, and thus provides the starting point for any quantitative understanding of thermoelectric properties. Cu 2–xSe is an intensely studied high performing, non-toxic and cheap thermoelectric material, and here for the first time, the average structure of β-Cu 2–xSe is reported based on analysis of multi-temperature single-crystal X-ray diffraction data. It consists of Se–Cu layers with additional copper between every alternate layer. The structural changes during the peculiar zT enhancing phase transition mainly consist of changes in the inter-layer distance coupled with subtle Cu migration. Just prior to themore » transition the structure exhibits strong negative thermal expansion due to the reordering of Cu atoms, when approached from low temperatures. The phase transition is fully reversible and group–subgroup symmetry relations are derived that relate the low-temperature β-phase to the high-temperature α-phase. Weak superstructure reflections are observed and a possible Cu ordering is proposed. The structural rearrangement may have a significant impact on the band structure and the Cu rearrangement may also be linked to an entropy increase. Both factors potentially contribute to the extraordinary zT enhancement across the phase transition.« less

A facile strategy to fabricate plasmonic Cu modified TiO{sub 2} nano-flower films for photocatalytic reduction of CO{sub 2} to methanol

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Liu, Enzhou; Qi, Lulu; Bian, Juanjuan

Graphical abstract: Photoreduction of CO{sub 2} to CH{sub 3}OH over plasmonic Cu/TiO{sub 2} film. - Highlights: • Cu nanoparticles modified TiO{sub 2} nano-flower film was prepared by a facile strategy. • Cu nanoparticles can enhance the light absorption and the Raman scattering of TiO{sub 2}. • Cu nanoparticles can effectively restrain the recombination of the charge carriers. • A synergistic mechanism is proposed for photocatalytic reduction of CO{sub 2} on Cu/TiO{sub 2} film. - Abstract: Cu nanoparticles (NPs) deposited TiO{sub 2} nano-flower films were fabricated using a combination of a hydrothermal method and a microwave-assisted reduction process. The investigations indicatedmore » that Cu NPs and TiO{sub 2} film both exhibit visible light harvesting properties based on localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) of Cu NPs and unique nanostructures of TiO{sub 2} film. Fluorescence quenching was observed because the recombination of charge carriers was effectively suppressed by Cu NPs deposition. The experimental results indicate that Cu/TiO{sub 2} films exhibit better activity for the photocatalytic reduction of CO{sub 2} due to the charge transfer property and LSPR effect of Cu NPs. The CH{sub 3}OH production rate reached 1.8 μmol cm{sup −2} h{sup −1} (energy efficiency was 0.8%) over 0.5 Cu/TiO{sub 2} film under UV and visible light irradiation, which was 6.0 times higher than that observed over pure TiO{sub 2} film. In addition, a tentative photocatalytic mechanism is proposed to understand the experimental results over the Cu modified TiO{sub 2} nano-flower films.« less

Synthesis and characterization of metal oxide semiconductors by a facile co-electroplating-annealing method and formation of ZnO/CuO pn heterojunctions with rectifying behavior

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Turkdogan, Sunay; Kilic, Bayram

2018-01-01

We have developed a unique growth method and demonstrated the growth of CuO and ZnO semiconductor materials and the fabrication of their pn heterojunctions in ambient atmosphere. The pn heterojunctions were constructed using inherently p-type CuO and inherently n-type ZnO materials. Both p- and n-type semiconductors and pn heterojunctions were prepared using a simple but versatile growth method that relies on the transformation of electroplated Cu and Zn metals into CuO and ZnO semiconductors, respectively and is capable of a large-scale production desired in most of the applications. The structural, chemical, optical and electrical properties of the materials and junctions were investigated using various characterization methods and the results show that our growth method, materials and devices are quite promising to be utilized for various applications including but not limited to solar cells, gas/humidity sensors and photodetectors.

An experimental investigation of localised surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) for Cu nanoparticles depending as a function of laser pulse number in Pulsed Laser Deposition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gezgin, Serap Yiǧit; Kepceoǧlu, Abdullah; Kılıç, Hamdi Şükür

2017-02-01

Copper is a low cost metal and its nanoparticles have a unique optical properties such as LSPR. The location of LSPR wavelength can be tuned by controlling nanoparticles sizes and size distributions of nanoparticles, shapes and interparticle distances. This morphological changes are provided by controlling system parameters in PLD. For this work, 48000 and 36000 laser pulses from Nd:YAG laser were applied to produce Cu nanoparticle thin films. These thin films were characterised by performing UV-VIS absorption spectroscopy, Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) analysis. When the number of laser pulse decreases, the size of Cu nanoparticles and the number of nanoparticles arriving on the substrate are reduced, and LSPR peak of thin films are red shifted depending on the geometrical shapes of the Cu nanoparticles. We have driven a conclusion in this work that LSPR properties of Cu nanoparticles can be tuned by proposed method.

Transparent flexible thermoelectric material based on non-toxic earth-abundant p-type copper iodide thin film

PubMed Central

Yang, C.; Souchay, D.; Kneiß, M.; Bogner, M.; Wei, H. M.; Lorenz, M.; Oeckler, O.; Benstetter, G.; Fu, Y. Q.; Grundmann, M.

2017-01-01

Thermoelectric devices that are flexible and optically transparent hold unique promise for future electronics. However, development of invisible thermoelectric elements is hindered by the lack of p-type transparent thermoelectric materials. Here we present the superior room-temperature thermoelectric performance of p-type transparent copper iodide (CuI) thin films. Large Seebeck coefficients and power factors of the obtained CuI thin films are analysed based on a single-band model. The low-thermal conductivity of the CuI films is attributed to a combined effect of the heavy element iodine and strong phonon scattering. Accordingly, we achieve a large thermoelectric figure of merit of ZT=0.21 at 300 K for the CuI films, which is three orders of magnitude higher compared with state-of-the-art p-type transparent materials. A transparent and flexible CuI-based thermoelectric element is demonstrated. Our findings open a path for multifunctional technologies combing transparent electronics, flexible electronics and thermoelectricity. PMID:28681842

Transparent flexible thermoelectric material based on non-toxic earth-abundant p-type copper iodide thin film.

PubMed

Yang, C; Souchay, D; Kneiß, M; Bogner, M; Wei, H M; Lorenz, M; Oeckler, O; Benstetter, G; Fu, Y Q; Grundmann, M

2017-07-06

Thermoelectric devices that are flexible and optically transparent hold unique promise for future electronics. However, development of invisible thermoelectric elements is hindered by the lack of p-type transparent thermoelectric materials. Here we present the superior room-temperature thermoelectric performance of p-type transparent copper iodide (CuI) thin films. Large Seebeck coefficients and power factors of the obtained CuI thin films are analysed based on a single-band model. The low-thermal conductivity of the CuI films is attributed to a combined effect of the heavy element iodine and strong phonon scattering. Accordingly, we achieve a large thermoelectric figure of merit of ZT=0.21 at 300 K for the CuI films, which is three orders of magnitude higher compared with state-of-the-art p-type transparent materials. A transparent and flexible CuI-based thermoelectric element is demonstrated. Our findings open a path for multifunctional technologies combing transparent electronics, flexible electronics and thermoelectricity.

Growing Strategic Thinkers for the Air National Guard

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-06-03

their career field and the strategic theory and critical thinking developed through advanced educational opportunities. The uniqueness of the ... theory - while others advocate leaders can be developed through experiences and education. This chapter will argue that to have the most effective... the military genius encapsulates unique traits that allow him to see and process information much more quickly and accurately than the ordinary

Magnetotransport study of topological superconductor Cu0.10Bi2Se3 single crystal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, M. T.; Fang, Y. F.; Zhang, J. C.; Yi, H. M.; Zhou, X. J.; Lin, C. T.

2018-03-01

We report a magnetotransport study of vortex-pinning in Cu0.10Bi2Se3 single crystal. The sample is demonstrated to be in clean limit and absent of Pauli spin-limiting effect. Interestingly, the resistivity versus magnetic field shows an anomalously pronounced increase when approaching the superconducting-normal state boundary for both {{B}app}\\parallel ab and {{B}app}\\parallel c configurations. We have investigated the flux-flowing behavior under various magnetic fields and temperatures, enabling us to establish its anisotropic vortex phase diagram. Our results suggest the Cu0.10Bi2Se3 can be served as one unique material for exploring exotic surface vortex states in topological superconductors.

Controlling electron beam-induced structure modifications and cation exchange in cadmium sulfide-copper sulfide heterostructured nanorods.

PubMed

Zheng, Haimei; Sadtler, Bryce; Habenicht, Carsten; Freitag, Bert; Alivisatos, A Paul; Kisielowski, Christian

2013-11-01

The atomic structure and interfaces of CdS/Cu2S heterostructured nanorods are investigated with the aberration-corrected TEAM 0.5 electron microscope operated at 80 kV and 300 kV applying in-line holography and complementary techniques. Cu2S exhibits a low-chalcocite structure in pristine CdS/Cu2S nanorods. Under electron beam irradiation the Cu2S phase transforms into a high-chalcocite phase while the CdS phase maintains its wurtzite structure. Time-resolved experiments reveal that Cu(+)-Cd(2+) cation exchange at the CdS/Cu2S interfaces is stimulated by the electron beam and proceeds within an undisturbed and coherent sulfur sub-lattice. A variation of the electron beam current provides an efficient way to control and exploit such irreversible solid-state chemical processes that provide unique information about system dynamics at the atomic scale. Specifically, we show that the electron beam-induced copper-cadmium exchange is site specific and anisotropic. A resulting displacement of the CdS/Cu2S interfaces caused by beam-induced cation interdiffusion equals within a factor of 3-10 previously reported Cu diffusion length measurements in heterostructured CdS/Cu2S thin film solar cells with an activation energy of 0.96 eV. © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Interfacial synthesis of polyethyleneimine-protected copper nanoclusters: Size-dependent tunable photoluminescence, pH sensor and bioimaging.

PubMed

Wang, Chan; Yao, Yagang; Song, Qijun

2016-04-01

The copper nanoclusters (CuNCs) offer excellent potential as functional biological probes due to their unique photoluminescence (PL) properties. Herein, CuNCs capped with hyperbranched polyethylenimine (PEI) were prepared by the interfacial etching approach. The resultant PEI-CuNCs exhibited good dispersion and strong fluorescence with high quantum yields (QYs, up to 7.5%), which would be endowed for bioimaging system. By changing the reaction temperatures from 25 to 150 °C, the size of PEI-CuNCs changed from 1.8 to 3.5 nm, and thus tunable PL were achieved, which was confirmed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) imagings and PL spectra. Besides, PEI-CuNCs had smart absorption characteristics that the color changes from colorless to blue with changing the pH value from 2.0 to 13.2, and thus they could be used as color indicator for pH detection. In addition, the PEI-CuNCs exhibited good biocompatibility and low cytotoxicity to 293T cells through MTT assay. Owing to the positively charged of PEI-CuNCs surface, they had the ability to capture DNA, and the PEI-CuNCs/DNA complexes could get access to cells for efficient gene expression. Armed with these attractive properties, the synthesized PEI-CuNCs are quite promising in biological applications. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Sublethal Effects of CuO Nanoparticles on Mozambique Tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus) Are Modulated by Environmental Salinity

PubMed Central

Abid, Aamir; Kennedy, Ian M.; Kültz, Dietmar

2014-01-01

The increasing use of manufactured nanoparticles (NP) in different applications has triggered the need to understand their putative ecotoxicological effects in the environment. Copper oxide nanoparticles (CuO NP) are toxic, and induce oxidative stress and other pathophysiological conditions. The unique properties of NP can change depending on the characteristics of the media they are suspended in, altering the impact on their toxicity to aquatic organisms in different environments. Here, Mozambique tilapia (O. mossambicus) were exposed to flame synthesized CuO NP (0.5 and 5 mg·L−1) in two environmental contexts: (a) constant freshwater (FW) and (b) stepwise increase in environmental salinity (SW). Sublethal effects of CuO NP were monitored and used to dermine exposure endpoints. Fish exposed to 5 mg·L−1 CuO in SW showed an opercular ventilation rate increase, whereas fish exposed to 5 mg·L−1 in FW showed a milder response. Different effects of CuO NP on antioxidant enzyme activities, accumulation of transcripts for metal-responsive genes, GSH∶GSSG ratio, and Cu content in fish gill and liver also demonstrate that additive osmotic stress modulates CuO NP toxicity. We conclude that the toxicity of CuO NP depends on the particular environmental context and that salinity is an important factor for modulating NP toxicity in fish. PMID:24520417

Transmission fidelity is the key to the build-up of cumulative culture

PubMed Central

Lewis, Hannah M.; Laland, Kevin N.

2012-01-01

Many animals have socially transmitted behavioural traditions, but human culture appears unique in that it is cumulative, i.e. human cultural traits increase in diversity and complexity over time. It is often suggested that high-fidelity cultural transmission is necessary for cumulative culture to occur through refinement, a process known as ‘ratcheting’, but this hypothesis has never been formally evaluated. We discuss processes of information transmission and loss of traits from a cognitive viewpoint alongside other cultural processes of novel invention (generation of entirely new traits), modification (refinement of existing traits) and combination (bringing together two established traits to generate a new trait). We develop a simple cultural transmission model that does not assume major evolutionary changes (e.g. in brain architecture) and show that small changes in the fidelity with which information is passed between individuals can lead to cumulative culture. In comparison, modification and combination have a lesser influence on, and novel invention appears unimportant to, the ratcheting process. Our findings support the idea that high-fidelity transmission is the key driver of human cumulative culture, and that progress in cumulative culture depends more on trait combination than novel invention or trait modification. PMID:22734060

Autistic trait interactions underlie sex-dependent facial recognition abilities in the normal population.

PubMed

Valla, Jeffrey M; Maendel, Jeffrey W; Ganzel, Barbara L; Barsky, Andrew R; Belmonte, Matthew K

2013-01-01

Autistic face processing difficulties are either uniquely social or due to a piecemeal cognitive "style." Co-morbidity of social deficits and piecemeal cognition in autism makes teasing apart these accounts difficult. These traits vary normally, and are more separable in the general population, suggesting another way to compare accounts. Participants completed the Autism Quotient survey of autistic traits, and one of three face recognition tests: full-face, eyes-only, or mouth-only. Social traits predicted performance in the full-face condition in both sexes. Eyes-only males' performance was predicted by a social × cognitive trait interaction: attention to detail boosted face recognition in males with few social traits, but hindered performance in those reporting many social traits. This suggests social/non-social Autism Spectrum Conditions (ASC) trait interactions at the behavioral level. In the presence of few ASC-like difficulties in social reciprocity, an ASC-like attention to detail may confer advantages on typical males' face recognition skills. On the other hand, when attention to detail co-occurs with difficulties in social reciprocity, a detailed focus may exacerbate such already present social difficulties, as is thought to occur in autism.

Predicting personality traits related to consumer behavior using SNS analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baik, Jongbum; Lee, Kangbok; Lee, Soowon; Kim, Yongbum; Choi, Jayoung

2016-07-01

Modeling a user profile is one of the important factors for devising a personalized recommendation. The traditional approach for modeling a user profile in computer science is to collect and generalize the user's buying behavior or preference history, generated from the user's interactions with recommender systems. According to consumer behavior research, however, internal factors such as personality traits influence a consumer's buying behavior. Existing studies have tried to adapt the Big 5 personality traits to personalized recommendations. However, although studies have shown that these traits can be useful to some extent for personalized recommendation, the causal relationship between the Big 5 personality traits and the buying behaviors of actual consumers has not been validated. In this paper, we propose a novel method for predicting the four personality traits-Extroversion, Public Self-consciousness, Desire for Uniqueness, and Self-esteem-that correlate with buying behaviors. The proposed method automatically constructs a user-personality-traits prediction model for each user by analyzing the user behavior on a social networking service. The experimental results from an analysis of the collected Facebook data show that the proposed method can predict user-personality traits with greater precision than methods that use the variables proposed in previous studies.

Transmission fidelity is the key to the build-up of cumulative culture.

PubMed

Lewis, Hannah M; Laland, Kevin N

2012-08-05

Many animals have socially transmitted behavioural traditions, but human culture appears unique in that it is cumulative, i.e. human cultural traits increase in diversity and complexity over time. It is often suggested that high-fidelity cultural transmission is necessary for cumulative culture to occur through refinement, a process known as 'ratcheting', but this hypothesis has never been formally evaluated. We discuss processes of information transmission and loss of traits from a cognitive viewpoint alongside other cultural processes of novel invention (generation of entirely new traits), modification (refinement of existing traits) and combination (bringing together two established traits to generate a new trait). We develop a simple cultural transmission model that does not assume major evolutionary changes (e.g. in brain architecture) and show that small changes in the fidelity with which information is passed between individuals can lead to cumulative culture. In comparison, modification and combination have a lesser influence on, and novel invention appears unimportant to, the ratcheting process. Our findings support the idea that high-fidelity transmission is the key driver of human cumulative culture, and that progress in cumulative culture depends more on trait combination than novel invention or trait modification.

Interactions between genetic variation and cellular environment in skeletal muscle gene expression.

PubMed

Taylor, D Leland; Knowles, David A; Scott, Laura J; Ramirez, Andrea H; Casale, Francesco Paolo; Wolford, Brooke N; Guan, Li; Varshney, Arushi; Albanus, Ricardo D'Oliveira; Parker, Stephen C J; Narisu, Narisu; Chines, Peter S; Erdos, Michael R; Welch, Ryan P; Kinnunen, Leena; Saramies, Jouko; Sundvall, Jouko; Lakka, Timo A; Laakso, Markku; Tuomilehto, Jaakko; Koistinen, Heikki A; Stegle, Oliver; Boehnke, Michael; Birney, Ewan; Collins, Francis S

2018-01-01

From whole organisms to individual cells, responses to environmental conditions are influenced by genetic makeup, where the effect of genetic variation on a trait depends on the environmental context. RNA-sequencing quantifies gene expression as a molecular trait, and is capable of capturing both genetic and environmental effects. In this study, we explore opportunities of using allele-specific expression (ASE) to discover cis-acting genotype-environment interactions (GxE)-genetic effects on gene expression that depend on an environmental condition. Treating 17 common, clinical traits as approximations of the cellular environment of 267 skeletal muscle biopsies, we identify 10 candidate environmental response expression quantitative trait loci (reQTLs) across 6 traits (12 unique gene-environment trait pairs; 10% FDR per trait) including sex, systolic blood pressure, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Although using ASE is in principle a promising approach to detect GxE effects, replication of such signals can be challenging as validation requires harmonization of environmental traits across cohorts and a sufficient sampling of heterozygotes for a transcribed SNP. Comprehensive discovery and replication will require large human transcriptome datasets, or the integration of multiple transcribed SNPs, coupled with standardized clinical phenotyping.

Understanding Leadership

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-02-16

this paper, myths about great men, genetic inheritance, God -given charisma, and so forth, have endured and filled Army stories for years. This paper...leader possesses unique, even God -given,40 traits that somehow separates those who lead 15 and those who do not. This paper thus argues that good...look at other kinds of leaders, such as Albert Einstein . Even though he possessed few of the traits found in FM 6-22 (and therefore would probably not

Analysing Amazonian forest productivity using a new individual and trait-based model (TFS v.1)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fyllas, N. M.; Gloor, E.; Mercado, L. M.; Sitch, S.; Quesada, C. A.; Domingues, T. F.; Galbraith, D. R.; Torre-Lezama, A.; Vilanova, E.; Ramírez-Angulo, H.; Higuchi, N.; Neill, D. A.; Silveira, M.; Ferreira, L.; Aymard C., G. A.; Malhi, Y.; Phillips, O. L.; Lloyd, J.

2014-07-01

Repeated long-term censuses have revealed large-scale spatial patterns in Amazon basin forest structure and dynamism, with some forests in the west of the basin having up to a twice as high rate of aboveground biomass production and tree recruitment as forests in the east. Possible causes for this variation could be the climatic and edaphic gradients across the basin and/or the spatial distribution of tree species composition. To help understand causes of this variation a new individual-based model of tropical forest growth, designed to take full advantage of the forest census data available from the Amazonian Forest Inventory Network (RAINFOR), has been developed. The model allows for within-stand variations in tree size distribution and key functional traits and between-stand differences in climate and soil physical and chemical properties. It runs at the stand level with four functional traits - leaf dry mass per area (Ma), leaf nitrogen (NL) and phosphorus (PL) content and wood density (DW) varying from tree to tree - in a way that replicates the observed continua found within each stand. We first applied the model to validate canopy-level water fluxes at three eddy covariance flux measurement sites. For all three sites the canopy-level water fluxes were adequately simulated. We then applied the model at seven plots, where intensive measurements of carbon allocation are available. Tree-by-tree multi-annual growth rates generally agreed well with observations for small trees, but with deviations identified for larger trees. At the stand level, simulations at 40 plots were used to explore the influence of climate and soil nutrient availability on the gross (ΠG) and net (ΠN) primary production rates as well as the carbon use efficiency (CU). Simulated ΠG, ΠN and CU were not associated with temperature. On the other hand, all three measures of stand level productivity were positively related to both mean annual precipitation and soil nutrient status. Sensitivity studies showed a clear importance of an accurate parameterisation of within- and between-stand trait variability on the fidelity of model predictions. For example, when functional tree diversity was not included in the model (i.e. with just a single plant functional type with mean basin-wide trait values) the predictive ability of the model was reduced. This was also the case when basin-wide (as opposed to site-specific) trait distributions were applied within each stand. We conclude that models of tropical forest carbon, energy and water cycling should strive to accurately represent observed variations in functionally important traits across the range of relevant scales.

A Unique Cause of Intestinal and Splenic Infarction in a Sickle Cell Trait Patient

PubMed Central

Asfaw, Sofya H.; Falk, Gavin A.; Morris-Stiff, Gareth; Tuthill, Ralph J.; Moorman, Matthew L.; Samotowka, Michael A.

2013-01-01

Sickle-cell trait is a common genetic abnormality in the African American population. A sickle-cell crisis in a patient with sickle-cell trait is uncommon at best. Abdominal painful crises are typical of patients with sickle cell anemia. The treatment for an abdominal painful crisis is usually medical and rarely surgical. We present the case of a cocaine-induced sickle-cell crisis in a sickle-cell trait patient that resulted in splenic, intestinal, and cerebral infarctions and multisystem organ failure necessitating a splenectomy, subtotal colectomy, and small bowel resection. This case highlights the diagnostic dilemma that abdominal pain can present in the sickle-cell population and illustrates the importance of recognizing the potential for traditionally medically managed illnesses to become surgical emergencies. PMID:23738181

A unique cause of intestinal and splenic infarction in a sickle cell trait patient.

PubMed

Asfaw, Sofya H; Falk, Gavin A; Morris-Stiff, Gareth; Tuthill, Ralph J; Moorman, Matthew L; Samotowka, Michael A

2013-01-01

Sickle-cell trait is a common genetic abnormality in the African American population. A sickle-cell crisis in a patient with sickle-cell trait is uncommon at best. Abdominal painful crises are typical of patients with sickle cell anemia. The treatment for an abdominal painful crisis is usually medical and rarely surgical. We present the case of a cocaine-induced sickle-cell crisis in a sickle-cell trait patient that resulted in splenic, intestinal, and cerebral infarctions and multisystem organ failure necessitating a splenectomy, subtotal colectomy, and small bowel resection. This case highlights the diagnostic dilemma that abdominal pain can present in the sickle-cell population and illustrates the importance of recognizing the potential for traditionally medically managed illnesses to become surgical emergencies.

Unique properties of halide perovskites as possible origins of the superior solar cell performance.

PubMed

Yin, Wan-Jian; Shi, Tingting; Yan, Yanfa

2014-07-16

Halide perovskites solar cells have the potential to exhibit higher energy conversion efficiencies with ultrathin films than conventional thin-film solar cells based on CdTe, CuInSe2 , and Cu2 ZnSnSe4 . The superior solar-cell performance of halide perovskites may originate from its high optical absorption, comparable electron and hole effective mass, and electrically clean defect properties, including point defects and grain boundaries. © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Characterization of iron, manganese, and copper synthetic hydroxyapatites by electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sutter, B.; Wasowicz, T.; Howard, T.; Hossner, L. R.; Ming, D. W.

2002-01-01

The incorporation of micronutrients (e.g., Fe, Mn, Cu) into synthetic hydroxyapatite (SHA) is proposed for slow release of these nutrients to crops in NASA's Advanced Life Support (ALS) program for long-duration space missions. Separate Fe3+ (Fe-SHA), Mn2+ (Mn-SHA), and Cu2+ (Cu-SHA) containing SHA materials were synthesized by a precipitation method. Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy was used to determine the location of Fe3+, Mn2+, and Cu2+ ions in the SHA structure and to identify other Fe(3+)-, Mn(2+)-, and Cu(2+)-containing phases that formed during precipitation. The EPR parameters for Fe3+ (g=4.20 and 8.93) and for Mn2+ (g=2.01, A=9.4 mT, D=39.0 mT and E=10.5 mT) indicated that Fe3+ and Mn2+ possessed rhombic ion crystal fields within the SHA structure. The Cu2+ EPR parameters (g(z)=2.488, A(z)=5.2 mT) indicated that Cu2+ was coordinated to more than six oxygens. The rhombic environments of Fe3+ and Mn2+ along with the unique Cu2+ environment suggested that these metals substituted for the 7 or 9 coordinate Ca2+ in SHA. The EPR analyses also detected poorly crystalline metal oxyhydroxides or metal-phosphates associated with SHA. The Fe-, Mn-, and Cu-SHA materials are potential slow release sources of Fe, Mn, and Cu for ALS and terrestrial cropping systems.

Binding of Copper and Silver to Single-Site Variants of Peptidylglycine Monooxygenase Reveals the Structure and Chemistry of the Individual Metal Centers

PubMed Central

2015-01-01

Peptidylglycine monooxygenase (PHM) catalyzes the final step in the biosynthesis of amidated peptides that serve as important signaling molecules in numerous endocrine pathways. The catalytic mechanism has attracted much attention because of a number of unique attributes, including the presence of a pair of uncoupled copper centers separated by 11 Å (termed CuH and CuM), an unusual Cu(I)SMet interaction at the oxygen binding M-site, and the postulated Cu(II)–superoxo intermediate. Understanding the mechanism requires determining the catalytic roles of the individual copper centers and how they change during catalysis, a task made more difficult by the overlapping spectral signals from each copper center in the wild-type (WT) protein. To aid in this effort, we constructed and characterized two PHM variants that bound metal at only one site. The H242A variant bound copper at the H-center, while the H107AH108A double mutant bound copper at the M-center; both mutants were devoid of catalytic activity. Oxidized Cu(II) forms showed electron paramagnetic resonance and extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectra consistent with their previously determined Cu(II)His3O and Cu(II)His2O2 ligand sets for the H- and M-centers, respectively. Cu(I) forms, on the other hand, showed unique chemistry. The M-center bound two histidines and a methionine at all pHs, while the H-center was two-coordinate at neutral pH but coordinated a new methionine S ligand at low pH. Fourier transform infrared studies confirmed and extended previous assignments of CO binding and showed unambiguously that the 2092 cm–1 absorbing species observed in the WT and many variant forms is an M-site Cu(I)–CO adduct. Silver binding was also investigated. When H107AH108A and M109I (a WT analogue with both sites intact) were incubated with excess AgNO3, each variant bound a single Ag(I) ion, from which it was inferred that Ag(I) binds selectively at the M-center with little or no affinity for the H-center. EXAFS at the Ag K-edge established a strong degree of similarity between the ligand sets of Cu and Ag bound at the M-center. These studies validate previous spectral assignments and provide new insights into the detailed chemistry of each metal site. PMID:24471980

Ethnic variation of selected dental traits in Coorg

PubMed Central

Uthaman, Chancy; Sequeira, Peter Simon; Jain, Jithesh

2015-01-01

Purpose: In a country like India, in addition to the great innate diversity, there are distinct migrant populations with unique dental traits. Aim: To assess the distribution and degree of expression of cusp of Carabelli of maxillary first permanent molars and shoveling trait of maxillary central incisors, between three ethnic groups of Coorg, namely Kodavas, Tibetans, and Malayalees. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional, indirect, anthropometric, study was carried out among 15- to 30-year-old subjects belonging to three different ethnic origins. A random sample consisting of 91 subjects were recruited for the study. The shovel trait of incisors and the Carabelli trait of molars were recorded according to the classification given by Hrdliƈka and Sousa et al., respectively. Statistical Analysis: The Kruskal-Wallis test was employed to determine the difference in three populations for shoveling and Carabelli traits. Mann-Whitney Test was used for pair-wise comparisons of three populations. Result: Of the total 91 subjects, 31 were Kodavas, 30 Malayalees and 30 Tibetans. There was a statistically significant difference in shoveling trait among the three ethnic groups. For Carabelli traits, there was no statistically significant difference among three ethnic groups. Conclusion: The present study findings showed that Tibetans have a higher degree of shoveling trait than the selected South Indian ethnic groups. PMID:26816457

Compositionally-graded silicon-copper helical arrays as anodes for lithium-ion batteries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Polat, Deniz B.; Keles, Ozgul; Amine, Khalil

2016-02-01

Restrictions in silicon based anodes have been the subject of many researches for years. As an innovative approach, we have adopted ion assisted deposition technique to glancing angle deposition method and have used compositionally-graded structuring. A unique helical shaped gradient film has been produced in which the Cu/Si atomic ratio decreases from the bottom to the top of the coating. With such a unique film (high surface area) more spaces have been created promoting mechanical integrity and reaction between active materials (silicon) with lithium ions. The highly adherent film is formed as a result of ion assisted deposition process and the gradual change in Cu/Si atomic ratio diverts stress through the helices. To compare the performance of the SiCu electrode, a pure Si film is deposited in the same experimental condition. Galvanostatic test results show that although the film with pure Si helices fails after 30th cycles, the compositionally graded anode exhibits a capacity of 1228 mAh g-1 at the 100th cycles with 99.5% coulombic efficiencies when cycled at 100 mA g-1, and delivers 815 mAh g-1 when cycled with a rate of 400 mA g-1.

Microstructure characterization based on the type of deformed grains in cold-rolled, Cu-added, bake-hardenable steel

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kim, J.S.; Kim, S.I.; Choi, S.-H., E-mail: shihoon@sunchon.ac.kr

2014-06-01

The electron backscatter diffraction technique has been used to characterize the microstructure of deformed grains in cold-rolled, Cu-added, bake-hardenable steel. A new scheme based on the kind and number of average orientations, as determined from a unique grain map of the deformed grains, was developed in order to classify deformed grains by type. The α-fiber components, γ-fiber components and random orientations, those which could not be assigned to either γ-fiber or α-fiber components, were used to define the average orientation of unique grains within individual deformed grains. The microstructures of deformed grains in as-rolled specimens were analyzed based on themore » Taylor factor, stored energy, and misorientation. The relative levels and distributions of the Taylor factor, the stored energy and the misorientation were examined in terms of the types of deformed grains. - Highlights: • We characterized the microstructure of Cu-added BH steel using EBSD. • A new scheme was developed in order to classify deformed grains by type. • Stored energy and misorientation are strongly dependent on the type of deformed grains. • Microstructure was examined in terms of the types of deformed grains.« less

Surface-adaptable all-metal micro-four-point probe with unique configuration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, J. K.; Choi, Y. S.; Lee, D. W.

2015-07-01

In this paper, we propose a surface-adaptable all-metal micro-four-point probe (μ4PP) with a unique configuration. The μ4PP consists of four independent metallic sub-cantilevers with sharp Cu tips, and an SU-8 body structure to support the sub-cantilevers. The tip height is approximately 15 μm, and the tips are fabricated by anisotropic wet-etching of silicon followed by Cu electroplating. Each metallic cantilever connected to the SU-8 body structure acts as a flexible spring, so that the conducting tip can make gentle, non-destructive contact with fragile surfaces. To enhance the adhesion between the metallic sub-cantilevers and the SU-8 body, mushroom-shaped Cu structures were fabricated using an under-baked and under-exposed photolithography process. Various μ4PPs were designed and fabricated to verify their diverse range of applications, and preliminary experiments were performed using these fabricated μ4PPs. The resultant flexibility and reliability were experimentally confirmed on several samples, such as a polymer cantilever, a graphene flake, and curved metallic surfaces. We also expect that the proposed μ4PP will be suitable for measuring the anisotropic characteristics of crystal materials or the Hall effect in semiconductors.

Activation of CuZn superoxide dismutases from Caenorhabditis elegans does not require the copper chaperone CCS.

PubMed

Jensen, Laran T; Culotta, Valeria Cizewski

2005-12-16

Reactive oxygen species are produced as the direct result of aerobic metabolism and can cause damage to DNA, proteins, and lipids. A principal defense against reactive oxygen species involves the superoxide dismutases (SOD) that act to detoxify superoxide anions. Activation of CuZn-SODs in eukaryotic cells occurs post-translationally and is generally dependent on the copper chaperone for SOD1 (CCS), which inserts the catalytic copper cofactor and catalyzes the oxidation of a conserved disulfide bond that is essential for activity. In contrast to other eukaryotes, the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans does not contain an obvious CCS homologue, and we have found that the C. elegans intracellular CuZn-SODs (wSOD-1 and wSOD-5) are not dependent on CCS for activation when expressed in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. CCS-independent activation of CuZn-SODs is not unique to C. elegans; however, this is the first organism identified that appears to exclusively use this alternative pathway. As was found for mammalian SOD1, wSOD-1 exhibits a requirement for reduced glutathione in CCS-independent activation. Unexpectedly, wSOD-1 was inactive even in the presence of CCS when glutathione was depleted. Our investigation of the cysteine residues that form the disulfide bond in wSOD-1 suggests that the ability of wSODs to readily form this disulfide bond may be the key to obtaining high levels of activation through the CCS-independent pathway. Overall, these studies demonstrate that the CuZn-SODs of C. elegans have uniquely evolved to acquire copper without the copper chaperone and this may reflect the lifestyle of this organism.

Role of an archaeal PitA transporter in the copper and arsenic resistance of Metallosphaera sedula, an extreme thermoacidophile.

PubMed

McCarthy, Samuel; Ai, Chenbing; Wheaton, Garrett; Tevatia, Rahul; Eckrich, Valerie; Kelly, Robert; Blum, Paul

2014-10-01

Thermoacidophilic archaea, such as Metallosphaera sedula, are lithoautotrophs that occupy metal-rich environments. In previous studies, an M. sedula mutant lacking the primary copper efflux transporter, CopA, became copper sensitive. In contrast, the basis for supranormal copper resistance remained unclear in the spontaneous M. sedula mutant, CuR1. Here, transcriptomic analysis of copper-shocked cultures indicated that CuR1 had a unique regulatory response to metal challenge corresponding to the upregulation of 55 genes. Genome resequencing identified 17 confirmed mutations unique to CuR1 that were likely to change gene function. Of these, 12 mapped to genes with annotated function associated with transcription, metabolism, or transport. These mutations included 7 nonsynonymous substitutions, 4 insertions, and 1 deletion. One of the insertion mutations mapped to pseudogene Msed_1517 and extended its reading frame an additional 209 amino acids. The extended mutant allele was identified as a homolog of Pho4, a family of phosphate symporters that includes the bacterial PitA proteins. Orthologs of this allele were apparent in related extremely thermoacidophilic species, suggesting M. sedula naturally lacked this gene. Phosphate transport studies combined with physiologic analysis demonstrated M. sedula PitA was a low-affinity, high-velocity secondary transporter implicated in copper resistance and arsenate sensitivity. Genetic analysis demonstrated that spontaneous arsenate-resistant mutants derived from CuR1 all underwent mutation in pitA and nonselectively became copper sensitive. Taken together, these results point to archaeal PitA as a key requirement for the increased metal resistance of strain CuR1 and its accelerated capacity for copper bioleaching. Copyright © 2014, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Role of an Archaeal PitA Transporter in the Copper and Arsenic Resistance of Metallosphaera sedula, an Extreme Thermoacidophile

PubMed Central

McCarthy, Samuel; Ai, Chenbing; Wheaton, Garrett; Tevatia, Rahul; Eckrich, Valerie; Kelly, Robert

2014-01-01

Thermoacidophilic archaea, such as Metallosphaera sedula, are lithoautotrophs that occupy metal-rich environments. In previous studies, an M. sedula mutant lacking the primary copper efflux transporter, CopA, became copper sensitive. In contrast, the basis for supranormal copper resistance remained unclear in the spontaneous M. sedula mutant, CuR1. Here, transcriptomic analysis of copper-shocked cultures indicated that CuR1 had a unique regulatory response to metal challenge corresponding to the upregulation of 55 genes. Genome resequencing identified 17 confirmed mutations unique to CuR1 that were likely to change gene function. Of these, 12 mapped to genes with annotated function associated with transcription, metabolism, or transport. These mutations included 7 nonsynonymous substitutions, 4 insertions, and 1 deletion. One of the insertion mutations mapped to pseudogene Msed_1517 and extended its reading frame an additional 209 amino acids. The extended mutant allele was identified as a homolog of Pho4, a family of phosphate symporters that includes the bacterial PitA proteins. Orthologs of this allele were apparent in related extremely thermoacidophilic species, suggesting M. sedula naturally lacked this gene. Phosphate transport studies combined with physiologic analysis demonstrated M. sedula PitA was a low-affinity, high-velocity secondary transporter implicated in copper resistance and arsenate sensitivity. Genetic analysis demonstrated that spontaneous arsenate-resistant mutants derived from CuR1 all underwent mutation in pitA and nonselectively became copper sensitive. Taken together, these results point to archaeal PitA as a key requirement for the increased metal resistance of strain CuR1 and its accelerated capacity for copper bioleaching. PMID:25092032

Genetic loci associated with coronary artery disease harbor evidence of selection and antagonistic pleiotropy

PubMed Central

Byars, Sean G.; Gray, Lesley-Ann; Ripatti, Samuli; Stearns, Stephen C.; Inouye, Michael

2017-01-01

Traditional genome-wide scans for positive selection have mainly uncovered selective sweeps associated with monogenic traits. While selection on quantitative traits is much more common, very few signals have been detected because of their polygenic nature. We searched for positive selection signals underlying coronary artery disease (CAD) in worldwide populations, using novel approaches to quantify relationships between polygenic selection signals and CAD genetic risk. We identified new candidate adaptive loci that appear to have been directly modified by disease pressures given their significant associations with CAD genetic risk. These candidates were all uniquely and consistently associated with many different male and female reproductive traits suggesting selection may have also targeted these because of their direct effects on fitness. We found that CAD loci are significantly enriched for lifetime reproductive success relative to the rest of the human genome, with evidence that the relationship between CAD and lifetime reproductive success is antagonistic. This supports the presence of antagonistic-pleiotropic tradeoffs on CAD loci and provides a novel explanation for the maintenance and high prevalence of CAD in modern humans. Lastly, we found that positive selection more often targeted CAD gene regulatory variants using HapMap3 lymphoblastoid cell lines, which further highlights the unique biological significance of candidate adaptive loci underlying CAD. Our study provides a novel approach for detecting selection on polygenic traits and evidence that modern human genomes have evolved in response to CAD-induced selection pressures and other early-life traits sharing pleiotropic links with CAD. PMID:28640878

Principal Component and Linkage Analysis of Cardiovascular Risk Traits in the Norfolk Isolate

PubMed Central

Cox, Hannah C.; Bellis, Claire; Lea, Rod A.; Quinlan, Sharon; Hughes, Roger; Dyer, Thomas; Charlesworth, Jac; Blangero, John; Griffiths, Lyn R.

2009-01-01

Objective(s) An individual's risk of developing cardiovascular disease (CVD) is influenced by genetic factors. This study focussed on mapping genetic loci for CVD-risk traits in a unique population isolate derived from Norfolk Island. Methods This investigation focussed on 377 individuals descended from the population founders. Principal component analysis was used to extract orthogonal components from 11 cardiovascular risk traits. Multipoint variance component methods were used to assess genome-wide linkage using SOLAR to the derived factors. A total of 285 of the 377 related individuals were informative for linkage analysis. Results A total of 4 principal components accounting for 83% of the total variance were derived. Principal component 1 was loaded with body size indicators; principal component 2 with body size, cholesterol and triglyceride levels; principal component 3 with the blood pressures; and principal component 4 with LDL-cholesterol and total cholesterol levels. Suggestive evidence of linkage for principal component 2 (h2 = 0.35) was observed on chromosome 5q35 (LOD = 1.85; p = 0.0008). While peak regions on chromosome 10p11.2 (LOD = 1.27; p = 0.005) and 12q13 (LOD = 1.63; p = 0.003) were observed to segregate with principal components 1 (h2 = 0.33) and 4 (h2 = 0.42), respectively. Conclusion(s): This study investigated a number of CVD risk traits in a unique isolated population. Findings support the clustering of CVD risk traits and provide interesting evidence of a region on chromosome 5q35 segregating with weight, waist circumference, HDL-c and total triglyceride levels. PMID:19339786

The unique contributions of perceiver and target characteristics in person perception.

PubMed

Hehman, Eric; Sutherland, Clare A M; Flake, Jessica K; Slepian, Michael L

2017-10-01

Models of person perception have long asserted that our impressions of others are guided by characteristics of both the target and perceiver. However, research has not yet quantified to what extent perceivers and targets contribute to different impressions. This quantification is theoretically critical, as it addresses how much an impression arises from "our minds" versus "others' faces." Here, we apply cross-classified random effects models to address this fundamental question in social cognition, using approximately 700,000 ratings of faces. With this approach, we demonstrate that (a) different trait impressions have unique causal processes, meaning that some impressions are largely informed by perceiver-level characteristics whereas others are driven more by physical target-level characteristics; (b) modeling of perceiver- and target-variance in impressions informs fundamental models of social perception; (c) Perceiver × Target interactions explain a substantial portion of variance in impressions; (d) greater emotional intensity in stimuli decreases the influence of the perceiver; and (e) more variable, naturalistic stimuli increases variation across perceivers. Important overarching patterns emerged. Broadly, traits and dimensions representing inferences of character (e.g., dominance) are driven more by perceiver characteristics than those representing appearance-based appraisals (e.g., youthful-attractiveness). Moreover, inferences made of more ambiguous traits (e.g., creative) or displays (e.g., faces with less extreme emotions, less-controlled stimuli) are similarly driven more by perceiver than target characteristics. Together, results highlight the large role that perceiver and target variability play in trait impressions, and develop a new topography of trait impressions that considers the source of the impression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

On-chip supercapacitors with ultrahigh volumetric performance based on electrochemically co-deposited CuO/polypyrrole nanosheet arrays

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qian, Tao; Zhou, Jinqiu; Xu, Na; Yang, Tingzhou; Shen, Xiaowei; Liu, Xuejun; Wu, Shishan; Yan, Chenglin

2015-10-01

We introduce a new method for fabricating unique on-chip supercapacitors based on CuO/polypyrrole core/shell nanosheet arrays by means of direct electrochemical co-deposition on interdigital-like electrodes. The prepared all-solid-state device demonstrates exceptionally high specific capacitance of 1275.5 F cm-3 (˜40 times larger than that of CuO-only supercapacitors) and high-energy-density of 28.35 mWh cm-3, which are both significantly greater than other solid-state supercapacitors. More importantly, the device maintains approximately 100% capacity retention at 2.5 A cm-3 after 3000 cycles. The in situ co-deposition of CuO/polypyrrole nanosheets on interdigital substrate enables effective charge transport, electrode fabrication integrity, and device integration. Because of their high energy, power density, and stable cycling stability, these newly developed on-chip supercapacitors permit fast, reliable applications in portable and miniaturized electronic devices.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sturza, Mihai; Malliakas, Christos D.; Bugaris, Daniel E.

A new ternary compound NaCu6Se4 was synthesized from the reaction of Cu in a molten sodium polyselenide flux. The compound crystallizes in trigonal space group Rmore » $$\\bar{3}$$m with a = 4.0465(3) Å and c = 41.493(5) Å. The crystal structure contains flat twodimensional slabs of 1/∞[Cu 6Se 4] with a unique structural arrangement, separated by Na cations. The compound contains mixed valency and has a high conductivity of ~3 × 10 3 S cm -1 at room temperature, and exhibits increasing conductivity with decreasing temperature, indicating metallic behavior. A small positive thermopower (4-11 μV K -1 from 300 to 500 K) and Hall effect measurements indicate p-type transport with a carrier concentration of ~2.8(3) × 10 21 cm -3 and a hole mobility of ~8.75 cm 2 V -1 s -1 at 300 K. NaCu 6Se 4 exhibits temperatureindependent Pauli paramagnetism.« less

On-chip supercapacitors with ultrahigh volumetric performance based on electrochemically co-deposited CuO/polypyrrole nanosheet arrays.

PubMed

Qian, Tao; Zhou, Jinqiu; Xu, Na; Yang, Tingzhou; Shen, Xiaowei; Liu, Xuejun; Wu, Shishan; Yan, Chenglin

2015-10-23

We introduce a new method for fabricating unique on-chip supercapacitors based on CuO/polypyrrole core/shell nanosheet arrays by means of direct electrochemical co-deposition on interdigital-like electrodes. The prepared all-solid-state device demonstrates exceptionally high specific capacitance of 1275.5 F cm(-3) (∼40 times larger than that of CuO-only supercapacitors) and high-energy-density of 28.35 mWh cm(-3), which are both significantly greater than other solid-state supercapacitors. More importantly, the device maintains approximately 100% capacity retention at 2.5 A cm(-3) after 3000 cycles. The in situ co-deposition of CuO/polypyrrole nanosheets on interdigital substrate enables effective charge transport, electrode fabrication integrity, and device integration. Because of their high energy, power density, and stable cycling stability, these newly developed on-chip supercapacitors permit fast, reliable applications in portable and miniaturized electronic devices.

Recrystallization-induced self-assembly for the growth of Cu₂O superstructures.

PubMed

Shang, Yang; Shao, Yi-Ming; Zhang, Dong-Feng; Guo, Lin

2014-10-20

The assembly of inorganic nanoparticles (NPs) into 3D superstructures with defined morphologies is of particular interest. A novel strategy that is based on recrystallization-induced self-assembly (RISA) for the construction of 3D Cu2O superstructures and employs Cu2O mesoporous spheres with diameters of approximately 300 nm as the building blocks has now been developed. Balancing the hydrolysis and recrystallization rates of the CuCl precursors through precisely adjusting the experimental parameters was key to success. Furthermore, the geometry of the superstructures can be tuned to obtain either cubes or tetrahedra and was shown to be dependent on the growth behavior of bulk CuCl. The overall strategy extends the applicability of recrystallization-based processes for the guided construction of assemblies and offers unique insights for assembling larger particles into complicated 3D superstructures. © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Impaired functional connectivity within and between frontostriatal circuits and its association with compulsive drug use and trait impulsivity in cocaine addiction.

PubMed

Hu, Yuzheng; Salmeron, Betty Jo; Gu, Hong; Stein, Elliot A; Yang, Yihong

2015-06-01

Converging evidence has long identified both impulsivity and compulsivity as key psychological constructs in drug addiction. Although dysregulated striatal-cortical network interactions have been identified in cocaine addiction, the association between these brain networks and addiction is poorly understood. To test the hypothesis that cocaine addiction is associated with disturbances in striatal-cortical communication as captured by resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC), measured from coherent spontaneous fluctuations in the blood oxygenation level-dependent functional magnetic resonance imaging signal, and to explore the relationships between striatal rsFC, trait impulsivity, and uncontrolled drug use in cocaine addiction. A case-control, cross-sectional study was conducted at the National Institute on Drug Abuse Intramural Research Program outpatient magnetic resonance imaging facility. Data used in the present study were collected between December 8, 2005, and September 30, 2011. Participants included 56 non-treatment-seeking cocaine users (CUs) (52 with cocaine dependence and 3 with cocaine abuse) and 56 healthy individuals serving as controls (HCs) matched on age, sex, years of education, race, estimated intelligence, and smoking status. Voxelwise statistical parametric analysis testing the rsFC strength differences between CUs and HCs in brain regions functionally connected to 6 striatal subregions defined a priori. Increased rsFC strength was observed predominantly in striatal-frontal circuits; decreased rsFC was found between the striatum and cingulate, striatal, temporal, hippocampal/amygdalar, and insular regions in the CU group compared with the HCs. Increased striatal-dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex connectivity strength was positively correlated with the amount of recent cocaine use (uncorrected P < .046) and elevated trait impulsivity in the CUs (uncorrected P < .012), and an index reflecting the balance between striatal-dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and striatal-anterior prefrontal/orbitofrontal cortex circuits was significantly associated with loss of control over cocaine use (corrected P < .012). Cocaine addiction is associated with disturbed rsFC in several specific striatal-cortical circuits. Specifically, compulsive cocaine use, a defining characteristic of dependence, was associated with a balance of increased striatal-anterior prefrontal/orbitofrontal and decreased striatal-dorsal anterior cingulate connectivity; trait impulsivity, both a risk factor for and a consequence of cocaine use, was associated with increased dorsal striatal-dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex connectivity uniquely in CUs. These findings provide new insights toward the neurobiological mechanisms of addiction and suggest potential novel therapeutic targets for treatment.

A Unique Mutation in a MYB Gene Cosegregates with the Nectarine Phenotype in Peach

PubMed Central

Dondini, Luca; Pacheco, Igor; Dettori, Maria Teresa; Gazza, Laura; Scalabrin, Simone; Strozzi, Francesco; Tartarini, Stefano; Bassi, Daniele; Verde, Ignazio; Rossini, Laura

2014-01-01

Nectarines play a key role in peach industry; the fuzzless skin has implications for consumer acceptance. The peach/nectarine (G/g) trait was described as monogenic and previously mapped on chromosome 5. Here, the position of the G locus was delimited within a 1.1 cM interval (635 kb) based on linkage analysis of an F2 progeny from the cross ‘Contender’ (C, peach) x ‘Ambra’ (A, nectarine). Careful inspection of the genes annotated in the corresponding genomic sequence (Peach v1.0), coupled with variant discovery, led to the identification of MYB gene PpeMYB25 as a candidate for trichome formation on fruit skin. Analysis of genomic re-sequencing data from five peach/nectarine accessions pointed to the insertion of a LTR retroelement in exon 3 of the PpeMYB25 gene as the cause of the recessive glabrous phenotype. A functional marker (indelG) developed on the LTR insertion cosegregated with the trait in the CxA F2 progeny and was validated on a broad panel of genotypes, including all known putative donors of the nectarine trait. This marker was shown to efficiently discriminate between peach and nectarine plants, indicating that a unique mutational event gave rise to the nectarine trait and providing a useful diagnostic tool for early seedling selection in peach breeding programs. PMID:24595269

Small high-definition video cameras as a tool to resight uniquely marked Interior Least Terns (Sternula antillarum athalassos)

USGS Publications Warehouse

Toy, Dustin L.; Roche, Erin; Dovichin, Colin M.

2017-01-01

Many bird species of conservation concern have behavioral or morphological traits that make it difficult for researchers to determine if the birds have been uniquely marked. Those traits can also increase the difficulty for researchers to decipher those markers. As a result, it is a priority for field biologists to develop time- and cost-efficient methods to resight uniquely marked individuals, especially when efforts are spread across multiple States and study areas. The Interior Least Tern (Sternula antillarum athalassos) is one such difficult-to-resight species; its tendency to mob perceived threats, such as observing researchers, makes resighting marked individuals difficult without physical recapture. During 2015, uniquely marked adult Interior Least Terns were resighted and identified by small, inexpensive, high-definition portable video cameras deployed for 29-min periods adjacent to nests. Interior Least Tern individuals were uniquely identified 84% (n = 277) of the time. This method also provided the ability to link individually marked adults to a specific nest, which can aid in generational studies and understanding heritability for difficult-to-resight species. Mark-recapture studies on such species may be prone to sparse encounter data that can result in imprecise or biased demographic estimates and ultimately flawed inferences. High-definition video cameras may prove to be a robust method for generating reliable demographic estimates.

High T c layered ferrielectric crystals by coherent spinodal decomposition

DOE PAGES

Susner, Michael A.; Belianinov, Alex; Borisevich, Albina Y.; ...

2015-11-13

Research in the rapidly-developing field of 2D-electronic materials has thus far been focused on metallic and semiconducting materials. However, complementary dielectric materials such as non-linear dielectrics are needed to enable realistic device architectures. Candidate materials require tunable dielectric properties and pathways for heterostructure assembly. Here we report on a family of cation-deficient transition metal thiophosphates whose unique chemistry makes them a viable prospect for these applications. In these materials, naturally occurring ferrielectric heterostructures composed of centrosymmetric In 4/3P 2S 6 and ferrielectrically-active CuInP 2S 6 are realized by controllable chemical phase separation in van-der-Waals bonded single crystals. CuInP 2S 6more » by itself is a layered ferrielectric with Tc just over room-temperature which rapidly decreases with homogenous doping. Surprisingly, in our composite materials, the ferrielectric Tc of the polar CuInP 2S 6 phase increases. This effect is enabled by unique spinodal decomposition that retains the overall van-der-Waals layered morphology of the crystal, but chemically separates CuInP 2S 6 and In 4/3P 2S 6 within each layer. The average spatial periodicity of the distinct chemical phases can be finely controlled by altering the composition and/or synthesis conditions. One intriguing prospect for such layered spinodal alloys is large volume synthesis of 2D in-plane heterostructures with periodically alternating polar and non-polar phases.« less

Spectroscopic and computational insight into the activation of O2 by the mononuclear Cu center in polysaccharide monooxygenases.

PubMed

Kjaergaard, Christian H; Qayyum, Munzarin F; Wong, Shaun D; Xu, Feng; Hemsworth, Glyn R; Walton, Daniel J; Young, Nigel A; Davies, Gideon J; Walton, Paul H; Johansen, Katja Salomon; Hodgson, Keith O; Hedman, Britt; Solomon, Edward I

2014-06-17

Strategies for O2 activation by copper enzymes were recently expanded to include mononuclear Cu sites, with the discovery of the copper-dependent polysaccharide monooxygenases, also classified as auxiliary-activity enzymes 9-11 (AA9-11). These enzymes are finding considerable use in industrial biofuel production. Crystal structures of polysaccharide monooxygenases have emerged, but experimental studies are yet to determine the solution structure of the Cu site and how this relates to reactivity. From X-ray absorption near edge structure and extended X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopies, we observed a change from four-coordinate Cu(II) to three-coordinate Cu(I) of the active site in solution, where three protein-derived nitrogen ligands coordinate the Cu in both redox states, and a labile hydroxide ligand is lost upon reduction. The spectroscopic data allowed for density functional theory calculations of an enzyme active site model, where the optimized Cu(I) and (II) structures were consistent with the experimental data. The O2 reactivity of the Cu(I) site was probed by EPR and stopped-flow absorption spectroscopies, and a rapid one-electron reduction of O2 and regeneration of the resting Cu(II) enzyme were observed. This reactivity was evaluated computationally, and by calibration to Cu-superoxide model complexes, formation of an end-on Cu-AA9-superoxide species was found to be thermodynamically favored. We discuss how this thermodynamically difficult one-electron reduction of O2 is enabled by the unique protein structure where two nitrogen ligands from His1 dictate formation of a T-shaped Cu(I) site, which provides an open coordination position for strong O2 binding with very little reorganization energy.

Etiological influences on the stability of autistic traits from childhood to early adulthood: evidence from a twin study.

PubMed

Taylor, Mark J; Gillberg, Christopher; Lichtenstein, Paul; Lundström, Sebastian

2017-01-01

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are persistent and lifelong conditions. Despite this, almost all twin studies focus on childhood. This twin study investigated the stability of autistic traits from childhood to early adulthood and explored the degree to which any stability could be explained by genetic or environmental factors. Parents of over 2500 twin pairs completed questionnaires assessing autistic traits when twins were aged either 9 or 12 years and again when twins were aged 18. Bivariate twin analysis assessed the degree of phenotypic and etiological stability in autistic traits across this period. Genetic overlap in autistic traits across development was also tested in individuals displaying a broad ASD phenotype, defined as scoring within the highest 5% of the sample. Autistic traits displayed moderate phenotypic stability ( r  = .39). The heritability of autistic traits was 76-77% in childhood and 60-62% in adulthood. A moderate degree of genetic influences on childhood autistic traits were carried across into adulthood (genetic correlation = .49). The majority (85%) of the stability in autistic traits was attributable to genetic factors. Genetic influences on autistic traits were moderately stable from childhood to early adulthood at the extremes (genetic correlation = .64). Broad autistic traits display moderate phenotypic and etiological stability from childhood to early adulthood. Genetic factors accounted for almost all phenotypic stability, although there was some phenotypic and etiological instability in autistic traits. Thus, autistic traits in adulthood are influenced by a combination of enduring and unique genetic factors.

Phase conversion from hexagonal CuS(y)Se(1-y) to cubic Cu(2-x)S(y)Se(1-y): composition variation, morphology evolution, optical tuning, and solar cell applications.

PubMed

Xu, Jun; Yang, Xia; Yang, Qingdan; Zhang, Wenjun; Lee, Chun-Sing

2014-09-24

In this work, we report a simple and low-temperature approach for the controllable synthesis of ternary Cu-S-Se alloys featuring tunable crystal structures, compositions, morphologies, and optical properties. Hexagonal CuS(y)Se(1-y) nanoplates and face centered cubic (fcc) Cu(2-x)S(y)Se(1-y) single-crystal-like stacked nanoplate assemblies are synthesized, and their phase conversion mechanism is well investigated. It is found that both copper content and chalcogen composition (S/Se atomic ratio) of the Cu-S-Se alloys are tunable during the phase conversion process. Formation of the unique single-crystal-like stacked nanoplate assemblies is resulted from oriented stacking coupled with the Ostwald ripening effect. Remarkably, optical tuning for continuous red shifts of both the band-gap absorption and the near-infrared localized surface plasmon resonance are achieved. Furthermore, the novel Cu-S-Se alloys are utilized for the first time as highly efficient counter electrodes (CEs) in quantum dot sensitized solar cells (QDSSCs), showing outstanding electrocatalytic activity for polysulfide electrolyte regeneration and yielding a 135% enhancement in power conversion efficiency (PCE) as compared to the noble metal Pt counter electrode.

Novel theranostic nanoplatform for complete mice tumor elimination via MR imaging-guided acid-enhanced photothermo-/chemo-therapy.

PubMed

Li, Bei; Tang, Jie; Chen, Weiyu; Hao, Guanyu; Kurniawan, Nyoman; Gu, Zi; Xu, Zhi Ping

2018-05-31

Non-invasive imaging-guided tumor therapy requires new-generation bio-nanomaterials to sensitively respond to the unique tumor microenvironment for precise diagnosis and efficient treatment. Here, we report such a theranostic nanoplatform by engineering defect-rich multifunctional Cu-doped layered double hydroxide (Cu-LDH) nanoparticles, which integrates pH-sensitive T 1 -magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), acid-enhanced photothermal therapy and heat-facilitated chemotherapy. As characterized with EXAFS and XPS, smaller Cu-LDH nanoparticles possess a considerable amount of defects around Cu cations, an advantageous microstructure that enables a high photothermal conversion of 808 nm NIR laser (53.1%). The exposure of CuOH octahedra on the LDH surface makes the photothermal conversion significantly acid-enhanced (53.1% at pH 7.0 vs. 81.9% at pH 5.0). This Cu peculiar microstructure also makes T 1 -MRI very pH-sensitive, a desirable guide for subsequent tumor photothermal therapy. Combined photothermal therapy and chemotherapy lead to nearly complete elimination of tumor tissues in vivo with a low injection dose of agents. Therefore, this novel defect-rich Cu-LDH nanoplatform is one of promising tumor-specific nanotheranostic agents for non-invasive imaging-guided combinational therapy. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Growth of rutile TiO2 nanorods in Ti and Cu ion sequentially implanted SiO2 and the involved mechanisms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mu, Xiaoyu; Liu, Xiaoyu; Wang, Xiaohu; Dai, Haitao; Liu, Changlong

2018-01-01

TiO2 in nanoscale exhibits unique physicochemical and optoelectronic properties and has attracted much more interest of the researchers. In this work, TiO2 nanostructures are synthesized in amorphous SiO2 slices by implanting Ti ions, or sequentially implanting Ti and Cu ions combined with annealing at high temperature. The morphology, structure, spatial distribution and optical properties of the formed nanostructures have been investigated in detail. Our results clearly show that the thermal growth of TiO2 nanostructures in SiO2 substrate is significantly enhanced by presence of post Cu ion implantation, which depends strongly on the applied Cu ion fluence, as well as the annealing atmosphere. Due to the formation of Cu2O in the substrate, rutile TiO2 nanorods of large size have been well fabricated in the Ti and Cu sequentially implanted SiO2 after annealing in N2 atmosphere, in which Cu2O plays a role as a catalyst. Moreover, the sample with well-fabricated TiO2 nanorods exhibits a narrowed band gap, an enhanced optical absorption in visible region, and catalase-/peroxidase-like catalytic characteristics. Our findings provide an effective route to fabricate functional TiO2 nanorods in SiO2 via ion implantation.

Bimagnon studies in cuprates with resonant inelastic x-ray scattering at the O K edge. I. Assessment on La2CuO4 and comparison with the excitation at Cu L3 and Cu K edges

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bisogni, V.; Simonelli, L.; Ament, L. J. P.; Forte, F.; Moretti Sala, M.; Minola, M.; Huotari, S.; van den Brink, J.; Ghiringhelli, G.; Brookes, N. B.; Braicovich, L.

2012-06-01

We assess the capabilities of magnetic resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS) at the O K edge in undoped cuprates by taking La2CuO4 as a benchmark case, based on a series of RIXS measurements that we present here. By combining the experimental results with basic theory we point out the fingerprints of bimagnon excitation in the O K edge RIXS spectra. These are a dominant peak around 450 meV, the almost complete absence of dispersion both with π and σ polarization, and the almost constant intensity vs the transferred momentum with σ polarization. This behavior is quite different from Cu L3 edge RIXS giving a strongly dispersing bimagnon tending to zero at the center of the Brillouin zone. This is clearly shown by RIXS measurements at the Cu L3 edge that we present. The Cu L3 bimagnon spectra and those at the Cu K edge—both from the literature and from our data—however, have the same shape. These similarities and differences are understood in terms of different sampling of the bimagnon continuum. This panorama points out the unique possibilities offered by O K RIXS in the study of magnetic excitations in cuprates near the center of the BZ.

Goal-driven modulation of stimulus-driven attentional capture in multiple-cue displays.

PubMed

Richard, Christian M; Wright, Richard D; Ward, Lawrence M

2003-08-01

Six location-cuing experiments were conducted to examine the goal-driven control of attentional capture in multiple-cue displays. In most of the experiments, the cue display consisted of the simultaneous presentation of a red direct cue that was highly predictive of the target location (the unique cue) and three gray direct cues (the standard cues) that were not predictive of the location. The results indicated that although target responses were faster at all cued locations relative to uncued locations, they were significantly faster at the unique-cue location than at the standard-cue locations. Other results suggest that the faster responses produced by direct cues may be associated with two different components: an attention-related component that can be modulated by goal-driven factors and a nonattentional component that occurs in parallel at multiple direct-cue locations and is minimally affected by the same goal-driven factors.

HHM motif at the CuH-site of peptidylglycine monooxygenase is a pH-dependent conformational switch.

PubMed

Kline, Chelsey D; Mayfield, Mary; Blackburn, Ninian J

2013-04-16

Peptidylglycine monooxygenase is a copper-containing enzyme that catalyzes the amidation of neuropeptides hormones, the first step of which is the conversion of a glycine-extended pro-peptide to its α-hydroxyglcine intermediate. The enzyme contains two mononuclear Cu centers termed CuM (ligated to imidazole nitrogens of H242, H244 and the thioether S of M314) and CuH (ligated to imidazole nitrogens of H107, H108, and H172) with a Cu-Cu separation of 11 Å. During catalysis, the M site binds oxygen and substrate, and the H site donates the second electron required for hydroxylation. The WT enzyme shows maximum catalytic activity at pH 5.8 and undergoes loss of activity at lower pHs due to a protonation event with a pKA of 4.6. Low pH also causes a unique structural transition in which a new S ligand coordinates to copper with an identical pKA, manifest by a large increase in Cu-S intensity in the X- ray absorption spectroscopy. In previous work (Bauman, A. T., Broers, B. A., Kline, C. D., and Blackburn, N. J. (2011) Biochemistry 50, 10819-10828), we tentatively assigned the new Cu-S interaction to binding of M109 to the H-site (part of an HHM conserved motif common to all but one member of the family). Here we follow up on these findings via studies on the catalytic activity, pH-activity profiles, and spectroscopic (electron paramagnetic resonance, XAS, and Fourier transform infrared) properties of a number of H-site variants, including H107A, H108A, H172A, and M109I. Our results establish that M109 is indeed the coordinating ligand and confirm the prediction that the low pH structural transition with associated loss of activity is abrogated when the M109 thioether is absent. The histidine mutants show more complex behavior, but the almost complete lack of activity in all three variants coupled with only minor differences in their spectroscopic properties suggests that unique structural elements at H are critical for functionality. The data suggest a more general utility for the HHM motif as a copper- and pH-dependent conformational switch.

Five-Factor Model Personality Traits, Spirituality/Religiousness, and Mental Health among People Living With HIV

PubMed Central

Löckenhoff, Corinna E.; Ironson, Gail H.; O’Cleirigh, Conall; Costa, Paul T.

2008-01-01

We examined the association between five-factor personality domains and facets and spirituality/religiousness as well as their joint association with mental health in a diverse sample of people living with HIV (n = 112, age range 18 – 66). Spirituality/religiousness showed stronger associations with Conscientiousness, Openness, and Agreeableness than with Neuroticism and Extraversion. Both personality traits and spirituality/religiousness were significantly linked to mental health, even after controlling for individual differences in demographic measures and disease status. Personality traits explained unique variance in mental health above spirituality and religiousness. Further, aspects of spirituality and religiousness were found to mediate some of the links between personality and mental health in this patient sample. These findings suggest that underlying personality traits contribute to the beneficial effects of spirituality/religiousness among vulnerable populations. PMID:19686457

Five-factor model personality traits, spirituality/religiousness, and mental health among people living with HIV.

PubMed

Löckenhoff, Corinna E; Ironson, Gail H; O'Cleirigh, Conall; Costa, Paul T

2009-10-01

We examined the association between five-factor personality domains and facets and spirituality/religiousness as well as their joint association with mental health in a diverse sample of people living with HIV (n=112, age range 18-66). Spirituality/religiousness showed stronger associations with Conscientiousness, Openness, and Agreeableness than with Neuroticism and Extraversion. Both personality traits and spirituality/religiousness were significantly linked to mental health, even after controlling for individual differences in demographic measures and disease status. Personality traits explained unique variance in mental health above spirituality and religiousness. Further, aspects of spirituality and religiousness were found to mediate some of the links between personality and mental health in this patient sample. These findings suggest that underlying personality traits contribute to the beneficial effects of spirituality/religiousness among vulnerable populations.

Self-Rated Attractiveness Moderates the Relationship Between Dark Personality Traits and Romantic Ideals in Women.

PubMed

Birkás, Béla; Láng, András; Meskó, Norbert

2018-02-01

Our study investigated the different mate preferences of the Dark Triad in women. In addition to former studies, we also examined the effect of self-evaluated attractiveness on these preferences. Attractiveness is a high-valued partner attribute, especially in short-term relationships. Accordingly, we predicted that women high in Dark Triad traits prefer characteristics related to short-term mating, because they possess traits favored in short-term relationships. Associations between ideal partner standards and Dark Triad traits were investigated with self-reports: 529 female undergraduate students filled out the Short Dark Triad and the Ideal Standards Scale. Results showed that all three Dark Triad traits were related to unique preferences of mate qualities corresponding to their self-rated partner qualities. Furthermore, despite the differences between the three Dark Triad traits, women's partner preferences were associated with their self-evaluated attractiveness (an indicator of mate value). In summary, according to our findings, qualities advertised by Dark Triad women as potential partner influence their expectation or preferences regarding mates, suggesting homogamous mate choice on the levels of these qualities.

Humanizing Outgroups Through Multiple Categorization

PubMed Central

Prati, Francesca; Crisp, Richard J.; Meleady, Rose; Rubini, Monica

2016-01-01

In three studies, we examined the impact of multiple categorization on intergroup dehumanization. Study 1 showed that perceiving members of a rival university along multiple versus simple categorical dimensions enhanced the tendency to attribute human traits to this group. Study 2 showed that multiple versus simple categorization of immigrants increased the attribution of uniquely human emotions to them. This effect was explained by the sequential mediation of increased individuation of the outgroup and reduced outgroup threat. Study 3 replicated this sequential mediation model and introduced a novel way of measuring humanization in which participants generated attributes corresponding to the outgroup in a free response format. Participants generated more uniquely human traits in the multiple versus simple categorization conditions. We discuss the theoretical implications of these findings and consider their role in informing and improving efforts to ameliorate contemporary forms of intergroup discrimination. PMID:26984016

Genetic control of juvenile growth and botanical architecture in an ornamental woody plant, Prunus mume Sieb. et Zucc. as revealed by a high-density linkage map.

PubMed

Sun, Lidan; Wang, Yaqun; Yan, Xiaolan; Cheng, Tangren; Ma, Kaifeng; Yang, Weiru; Pan, Huitang; Zheng, Chengfei; Zhu, Xuli; Wang, Jia; Wu, Rongling; Zhang, Qixiang

2014-01-01

Mei, Prunus mume Sieb. et Zucc., is an ornamental plant popular in East Asia and, as an important member of genus Prunus, has played a pivotal role in systematic studies of the Rosaceae. However, the genetic architecture of botanical traits in this species remains elusive. This paper represents the first genome-wide mapping study of quantitative trait loci (QTLs) that affect stem growth and form, leaf morphology and leaf anatomy in an intraspecific cross derived from two different mei cultivars. Genetic mapping based on a high-density linkage map constricted from 120 SSRs and 1,484 SNPs led to the detection of multiple QTLs for each trait, some of which exert pleiotropic effects on correlative traits. Each QTL explains 3-12% of the phenotypic variance. Several leaf size traits were found to share common QTLs, whereas growth-related traits and plant form traits might be controlled by a different set of QTLs. Our findings provide unique insights into the genetic control of tree growth and architecture in mei and help to develop an efficient breeding program for selecting superior mei cultivars.

Epitaxial thin film growth in outer space

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ignatiev, Alex; Chu, C. W.

1988-01-01

A new concept for materials processing in space exploits the ultravacuum component of space for thin-film epitaxial growth. The unique LEO space environment is expected to yield 10-ftorr or better pressures, semiinfinite pumping speeds, and large ultravacuum volume (about 100 cu m) without walls. These space ultravacuum properties promise major improvement in the quality, unique nature, and throughput of epitaxially grown materials, including semiconductors, magnetic materials, and thin-film high-temperature superconductors.

Personality traits and career satisfaction of health care professionals.

PubMed

Richardson, John D; Lounsbury, John W; Bhaskar, Tripti; Gibson, Lucy W; Drost, Adam W

2009-01-01

Based on Holland's theorizing that vocational satisfaction arises from a good match between one's personality and career choice, one purpose of the study was to examine broad and narrow personality traits that characterize health care workers in comparison with professionals from other occupations. Also investigated were ways in which characteristic traits of health care workers were related to career satisfaction. Professionals utilizing the services of eCareerfit.com responded to online surveys that have been demonstrated to produce reliable and valid measures of broad and narrow personality traits and levels of career satisfaction. An independent sample t test was used to compare means of health care workers with those from other occupations. Pearson product-moment correlations were then computed to assess relationships between the traits and career satisfaction of health care professionals. Two traits that were particularly strong among health care workers were also significantly correlated with career satisfaction: work drive and conscientiousness. Other traits were found to be significantly related to career satisfaction in health care but were not uniquely high in the sample of health care professionals. To increase career satisfaction of health care professionals and thus to improve retention rates, administrators should consider focusing on recruiting and selecting individuals with higher levels of key personality traits.

Gratifications, collective self-esteem, online emotional openness, and traitlike communication apprehension as predictors of Facebook uses.

PubMed

Zhang, Yin; Tang, Leo Shing-Tung; Leung, Louis

2011-12-01

This study explores whether and how gratifications and psychological traits impact people's Facebook use. First, a factor analysis of an online survey (N= 437) outlined a unique set of gratifications obtained from the use of Facebook. Six aspects of gratifications (i.e., social surveillance, entertainment, recognition, emotional support, network extension, and maintenance) were identified. Results from regression analyses showed that psychological traits (i.e., collective self-esteem, online emotional openness, and traitlike communication apprehension) were strong predictors of most Facebook gratifications. Additionally, gratifications and, to a lesser extent, psychological traits significantly predicted Facebook usage, both in perceived importance and different indicators in the level of Facebook use.

Hippocampus is required for paired associate memory with neither delay nor trial uniqueness

PubMed Central

Yoon, Jinah; Seo, Yeran; Kim, Jangjin; Lee, Inah

2012-01-01

Cued retrieval of memory is typically examined with delay when testing hippocampal functions, as in delayed matching-to-sample tasks. Equally emphasized in the literature, on the other hand, is the hippocampal involvement in making arbitrary associations. Paired associate memory tasks are widely used for examining this function. However, the two variables (i.e., delay and paired association) were often mixed in paired associate tasks, and this makes it difficult to localize the cognitive source of deficits with hippocampal perturbation. Specifically, a few studies have recently shown that rats can learn arbitrary paired associations between certain locations and nonspatial items (e.g., object or flavor) and later can retrieve the paired location when cued by the item remotely. Such tasks involve both (1) delay between sampling the cue and retrieving the target location and (2) arbitrary association between the cueing object and its paired location. Here, we tested whether delay was necessary in a cued paired associate task by using a task in which no delay existed between object cueing and the choice of its paired associate. Moreover, fixed associative relationships between the cueing objects and their paired locations were repeatedly used, thus involving no trial-unique association. Nevertheless, inactivations of the dorsal hippocampus with muscimol severely disrupted retrieval of paired associates, whereas the same manipulations did not affect discriminating individual objects or locations. The results powerfully demonstrate that the hippocampus is inherently required for retrieving paired associations between objects and places, and that delay and trial uniqueness of the paired associates are not necessarily required. PMID:22174309

Intraspecific variability in functional traits matters: case study of Scots pine.

PubMed

Laforest-Lapointe, Isabelle; Martínez-Vilalta, Jordi; Retana, Javier

2014-08-01

Although intraspecific trait variability is an important component of species ecological plasticity and niche breadth, its implications for community and functional ecology have not been thoroughly explored. We characterized the intraspecific functional trait variability of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) in Catalonia (NE Spain) in order to (1) compare it to the interspecific trait variability of trees in the same region, (2) explore the relationships among functional traits and the relationships between them and stand and climatic variables, and (3) study the role of functional trait variability as a determinant of radial growth. We considered five traits: wood density (WD), maximum tree height (H max), leaf nitrogen content (Nmass), specific leaf area (SLA), and leaf biomass-to-sapwood area ratio (B L:A S). A unique dataset was obtained from the Ecological and Forest Inventory of Catalonia (IEFC), including data from 406 plots. Intraspecific trait variation was substantial for all traits, with coefficients of variation ranging between 8% for WD and 24% for B L:A S. In some cases, correlations among functional traits differed from those reported across species (e.g., H max and WD were positively related, whereas SLA and Nmass were uncorrelated). Overall, our model accounted for 47% of the spatial variability in Scots pine radial growth. Our study emphasizes the hierarchy of factors that determine intraspecific variations in functional traits in Scots pine and their strong association with spatial variability in radial growth. We claim that intraspecific trait variation is an important determinant of responses of plants to changes in climate and other environmental factors, and should be included in predictive models of vegetation dynamics.

The dark cube: dark and light character profiles.

PubMed

Garcia, Danilo; Rosenberg, Patricia

2016-01-01

Background. Research addressing distinctions and similarities between people's malevolent character traits (i.e., the Dark Triad: Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy) has detected inconsistent linear associations to temperament traits. Additionally, these dark traits seem to have a common core expressed as uncooperativeness. Hence, some researchers suggest that the dark traits are best represented as one global construct (i.e., the unification argument) rather than as ternary construct (i.e., the uniqueness argument). We put forward the dark cube (cf. Cloninger's character cube) comprising eight dark profiles that can be used to compare individuals who differ in one dark character trait while holding the other two constant. Our aim was to investigate in which circumstances individuals who are high in each one of the dark character traits differ in Cloninger's "light" character traits: self-directedness, cooperativeness, and self-transcendence. We also investigated if people's dark character profiles were associated to their light character profiles. Method. A total of 997 participants recruited from Amazon's Mechanical Turk (MTurk) responded to the Short Dark Triad and the Short Character Inventory. Participants were allocated to eight different dark profiles and eight light profiles based on their scores in each of the traits and any possible combination of high and low scores. We used three-way interaction regression analyses and t-tests to investigate differences in light character traits between individuals with different dark profiles. As a second step, we compared the individuals' dark profile with her/his character profile using an exact cell-wise analysis conducted in the ROPstat software (http://www.ropstat.com). Results. Individuals who expressed high levels of Machiavellianism and those who expressed high levels of psychopathy also expressed low self-directedness and low cooperativeness. Individuals with high levels of narcissism, in contrast, scored high in self-directedness. Moreover, individuals with a profile low in the dark traits were more likely to end up with a profile high in cooperativeness. The opposite was true for those individuals with a profile high in the dark traits. The rest of the cross-comparisons revealed some of the characteristics of human personality as a non-linear complex dynamic system. Conclusions. Our study suggests that individuals who are high in Machiavellianism and psychopathy share a unified non-agentic and uncooperative character (i.e., irresponsible, low in self-control, unempathetic, unhelpful, untolerant), while individuals high in narcissism have a more unique character configuration expressed as high agency and, when the other dark traits are high, highly spiritual but uncooperative. In other words, based on differences in their associations to the light side of character, the Dark Triad seems to be a dyad rather than a triad.

The dark cube: dark and light character profiles

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

Background. Research addressing distinctions and similarities between people’s malevolent character traits (i.e., the Dark Triad: Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy) has detected inconsistent linear associations to temperament traits. Additionally, these dark traits seem to have a common core expressed as uncooperativeness. Hence, some researchers suggest that the dark traits are best represented as one global construct (i.e., the unification argument) rather than as ternary construct (i.e., the uniqueness argument). We put forward the dark cube (cf. Cloninger’s character cube) comprising eight dark profiles that can be used to compare individuals who differ in one dark character trait while holding the other two constant. Our aim was to investigate in which circumstances individuals who are high in each one of the dark character traits differ in Cloninger’s “light” character traits: self-directedness, cooperativeness, and self-transcendence. We also investigated if people’s dark character profiles were associated to their light character profiles. Method. A total of 997 participants recruited from Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (MTurk) responded to the Short Dark Triad and the Short Character Inventory. Participants were allocated to eight different dark profiles and eight light profiles based on their scores in each of the traits and any possible combination of high and low scores. We used three-way interaction regression analyses and t-tests to investigate differences in light character traits between individuals with different dark profiles. As a second step, we compared the individuals’ dark profile with her/his character profile using an exact cell-wise analysis conducted in the ROPstat software (http://www.ropstat.com). Results. Individuals who expressed high levels of Machiavellianism and those who expressed high levels of psychopathy also expressed low self-directedness and low cooperativeness. Individuals with high levels of narcissism, in contrast, scored high in self-directedness. Moreover, individuals with a profile low in the dark traits were more likely to end up with a profile high in cooperativeness. The opposite was true for those individuals with a profile high in the dark traits. The rest of the cross-comparisons revealed some of the characteristics of human personality as a non-linear complex dynamic system. Conclusions. Our study suggests that individuals who are high in Machiavellianism and psychopathy share a unified non-agentic and uncooperative character (i.e., irresponsible, low in self-control, unempathetic, unhelpful, untolerant), while individuals high in narcissism have a more unique character configuration expressed as high agency and, when the other dark traits are high, highly spiritual but uncooperative. In other words, based on differences in their associations to the light side of character, the Dark Triad seems to be a dyad rather than a triad. PMID:26966650

Low Pt-content ternary PdCuPt nanodendrites: an efficient electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction reaction

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Fu, Shaofang; Zhu, Chengzhou; Song, Junhua

2017-01-01

Dendritic nanostructures are capturing increasing attentions in electrocatalysis owing to their unique structural features and low density. Herein, we report for the first time bromide ions mediated synthesis of low-Pt-content PdCuPt ternary nanodendrites via galvanic replacement reaction between Pt precursor and PdCu template in aqueous solution. The experimental results show that the ternary PdCuPt nanodendrites present enhanced electrocatalytic performance for oxygen reduction reaction in acid solution compared with commercial Pt/C as well as some state-of-the-art catalysts. In details, the mass activity of the PdCuPt catalyst with optimized composition is 1.73 A/mgPt at 0.85 V vs RHE, which is 14 timesmore » higher than that of commercial Pt/C catalyst. Moreover, the long-term stability test demonstrates its better durability in acid solution. After 5k cycles, there is still 70% electrochemical surface area maintained. This method provides an efficient way to synthesize trimetallic alloys with controllable composition and specific structure for oxygen reduction reaction.« less

Excellent field emission properties of vertically oriented CuO nanowire films

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feng, Long; Yan, Hui; Li, Heng; Zhang, Rukang; Li, Zhe; Chi, Rui; Yang, Shuaiyu; Ma, Yaya; Fu, Bin; Liu, Jiwen

2018-04-01

Oriented CuO nanowire films were synthesized on a large scale using simple method of direct heating copper grids in air. The field emission properties of the sample can be enhanced by improving the aspect ratio of the nanowires just through a facile method of controlling the synthesis conditions. Although the density of the nanowires is large enough, the screen effect is not an important factor in this field emission process because few nanowires sticking out above the rest. Benefiting from the unique geometrical and structural features, the CuO nanowire samples show excellent field emission (FE) properties. The FE measurements of CuO nanowire films illustrate that the sample synthesized at 500 °C for 8 h has a comparatively low turn-on field of 0.68 V/μm, a low threshold field of 1.1 V/μm, and a large field enhancement factor β of 16782 (a record high value for CuO nanostructures, to the best of our knowledge), indicating that the samples are promising candidates for field emission applications.

Dendritic Ni(Cu)-polypyrrole hybrid films for a pseudo-capacitor.

PubMed

Choi, Bit Na; Chun, Woo Won; Qian, Aniu; Lee, So Jeong; Chung, Chan-Hwa

2015-11-28

Dendritic Ni(Cu)-polypyrrole hybrid films are fabricated for a pseudo-capacitor in a unique morphology using two simple methods: electro-deposition and electrochemical de-alloying. Three-dimensional structures of porous dendrites are prepared by electro-deposition within the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) at a high cathodic potential; the high-surface-area structure provides sufficient redox reactions between the electrodes and the electrolyte. The dependence of the active-layer thickness on the super-capacitor performance is also investigated, and the 60 μm-thick Ni(Cu)PPy hybrid electrode presents the highest performance of 659.52 F g(-1) at the scan rate of 5 mV s(-1). In the thicker layers, the specific capacitance became smaller due to the diffusion limitation of the ions in an electrolyte. The polypyrrole-hybridization on the porous dendritic Ni(Cu) electrode provides superior specific capacitance and excellent cycling stability due to the improvement in electric conductivity by the addition of conducting polypyrrole in the matrices of the dendritic nano-porous Ni(Cu) layer and the synergistic effect of composite materials.

Unique phase identification of trimetallic copper iron manganese oxygen carrier using simultaneous differential scanning calorimetry/thermogravimetric analysis during chemical looping combustion reactions with methane

DOE PAGES

Benincosa, William; Siriwardane, Ranjani; Tian, Hanjing; ...

2017-07-05

Chemical looping combustion (CLC) is a promising combustion technology that generates heat and sequestration-ready carbon dioxide that is undiluted by nitrogen from the combustion of carbonaceous fuels with an oxygen carrier, or metal oxide. This process is highly dependent on the reactivity and stability of the oxygen carrier. The development of oxygen carriers remains one of the major barriers for commercialization of CLC. Synthetic oxygen carriers, consisting of multiple metal components, have demonstrated enhanced performance and improved CLC operation compared to single metal oxides. However, identification of the complex mixed metal oxide phases that form after calcination or during CLCmore » reactions has been challenging. Without an understanding of the dominant metal oxide phase, it is difficult to determine reaction parameters and the oxygen carrier reduction pathway, which are necessary for CLC reactor design. This is particularly challenging for complex multi-component oxygen carriers such as copper iron manganese oxide (CuFeMnO 4). This study aims to differentiate the unique phase formation of a highly reactive, complex trimetallic oxygen carrier, CuFeMnO 4, from its single and bimetallic counterparts using thermochemical and reaction data obtained from simultaneous differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) during temperature programmed reductions (TPR) with methane. DSC/TGA experiments during TPR with methane provides heat flow data and corresponding reaction rate data that can be used to determine reaction routes and mechanisms during methane reduction. Furthermore, non-isothermal TPR data provides the advantage of distinguishing reactions that may not be observable in isothermal analysis. The detailed thermochemical and reaction data, obtained during TPR with methane, distinguished a unique reduction pathway for CuFeMnO 4 that differed from its single and bimetallic counterparts. This is remarkable since X-ray diffraction (XRD) data alone could not be used to distinguish the reactive trimetallic oxide phase due to overlapping peaks from various single and mixed metal oxides. The unique reduction pathway of CuFeMnO 4 was further characterized in this study using in-situ XRD TPR with methane to determine changes in the dominant trimetallic phase that influenced the thermochemical and reaction rate data.« less

Unique phase identification of trimetallic copper iron manganese oxygen carrier using simultaneous differential scanning calorimetry/thermogravimetric analysis during chemical looping combustion reactions with methane

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Benincosa, William; Siriwardane, Ranjani; Tian, Hanjing

Chemical looping combustion (CLC) is a promising combustion technology that generates heat and sequestration-ready carbon dioxide that is undiluted by nitrogen from the combustion of carbonaceous fuels with an oxygen carrier, or metal oxide. This process is highly dependent on the reactivity and stability of the oxygen carrier. The development of oxygen carriers remains one of the major barriers for commercialization of CLC. Synthetic oxygen carriers, consisting of multiple metal components, have demonstrated enhanced performance and improved CLC operation compared to single metal oxides. However, identification of the complex mixed metal oxide phases that form after calcination or during CLCmore » reactions has been challenging. Without an understanding of the dominant metal oxide phase, it is difficult to determine reaction parameters and the oxygen carrier reduction pathway, which are necessary for CLC reactor design. This is particularly challenging for complex multi-component oxygen carriers such as copper iron manganese oxide (CuFeMnO 4). This study aims to differentiate the unique phase formation of a highly reactive, complex trimetallic oxygen carrier, CuFeMnO 4, from its single and bimetallic counterparts using thermochemical and reaction data obtained from simultaneous differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) during temperature programmed reductions (TPR) with methane. DSC/TGA experiments during TPR with methane provides heat flow data and corresponding reaction rate data that can be used to determine reaction routes and mechanisms during methane reduction. Furthermore, non-isothermal TPR data provides the advantage of distinguishing reactions that may not be observable in isothermal analysis. The detailed thermochemical and reaction data, obtained during TPR with methane, distinguished a unique reduction pathway for CuFeMnO 4 that differed from its single and bimetallic counterparts. This is remarkable since X-ray diffraction (XRD) data alone could not be used to distinguish the reactive trimetallic oxide phase due to overlapping peaks from various single and mixed metal oxides. The unique reduction pathway of CuFeMnO 4 was further characterized in this study using in-situ XRD TPR with methane to determine changes in the dominant trimetallic phase that influenced the thermochemical and reaction rate data.« less

Olfactory Cued Learning Paradigm.

PubMed

Liu, Gary; McClard, Cynthia K; Tepe, Burak; Swanson, Jessica; Pekarek, Brandon; Panneerselvam, Sugi; Arenkiel, Benjamin R

2017-05-05

Sensory stimulation leads to structural changes within the CNS (Central Nervous System), thus providing the fundamental mechanism for learning and memory. The olfactory circuit offers a unique model for studying experience-dependent plasticity, partly due to a continuous supply of integrating adult born neurons. Our lab has recently implemented an olfactory cued learning paradigm in which specific odor pairs are coupled to either a reward or punishment to study downstream circuit changes. The following protocol outlines the basic set up for our learning paradigm. Here, we describe the equipment setup, programming of software, and method of behavioral training.

Achieving high strength and high ductility in metal matrix composites reinforced with a discontinuous three-dimensional graphene-like network.

PubMed

Zhang, Xiang; Shi, Chunsheng; Liu, Enzuo; He, Fang; Ma, Liying; Li, Qunying; Li, Jiajun; Bacsa, Wolfgang; Zhao, Naiqin; He, Chunnian

2017-08-24

Graphene or graphene-like nanosheets have been emerging as an attractive reinforcement for composites due to their unique mechanical and electrical properties as well as their fascinating two-dimensional structure. It is a great challenge to efficiently and homogeneously disperse them within a metal matrix for achieving metal matrix composites with excellent mechanical and physical performance. In this work, we have developed an innovative in situ processing strategy for the fabrication of metal matrix composites reinforced with a discontinuous 3D graphene-like network (3D GN). The processing route involves the in situ synthesis of the encapsulation structure of 3D GN powders tightly anchored with Cu nanoparticles (NPs) (3D GN@Cu) to ensure mixing at the molecular level between graphene-like nanosheets and metal, coating of Cu on the 3D GN@Cu (3D GN@Cu@Cu), and consolidation of the 3D GN@Cu@Cu powders. This process can produce GN/Cu composites on a large scale, in which the in situ synthesized 3D GN not only maintains the perfect 3D network structure within the composites, but also has robust interfacial bonding with the metal matrix. As a consequence, the as-obtained 3D GN/Cu composites exhibit exceptionally high strength and superior ductility (the uniform and total elongation to failure of the composite are even much higher than the unreinforced Cu matrix). To the best of our knowledge, this work is the first report validating that a discontinuous 3D graphene-like network can simultaneously remarkably enhance the strength and ductility of the metal matrix.

The full translational spectrum of prevention science: facilitating the transfer of knowledge to practices and policies that prevent behavioral health problems.

PubMed

Fishbein, Diana H; Ridenour, Ty A; Stahl, Mindy; Sussman, Steve

2016-03-01

A broad-span, six-stage translational prevention model is presented, extending from the basic sciences-taking a multi-level systems approach, including the neurobiological sciences-through to globalization. The application of a very wide perspective of translation research from basic scientific discovery to international policy change promises to elicit sustainable, population-level reductions in behavioral health disorders. To illustrate the conceptualization and actualization of a program of translational prevention research, we walk through each stage of research to practice and policy using an exemplar, callous-unemotional (CU) traits. Basic science has identified neurobiological, psychophysiological, behavioral, contextual, and experiential differences in this subgroup, and yet, these findings have not been applied to the development of more targeted intervention. As a result, there are currently no programs considered especially effective for CU traits, likely because they do not specifically target underlying mechanisms. To prevent/reduce the prevalence of conduct disorder, it is critical that we transfer existing knowledge to subsequent translational stages, including intervention development, implementation, and scaling. And eventually, once resulting programs have been rigorously evaluated, replicated, and adapted across cultural, ethnic, and gender groups, there is potential to institutionalize them as well as call attention to the special needs of this population. In this paper, we begin to consider what resources and changes in research perspectives are needed to move along this translational spectrum.

The many mysteries of Homo naledi.

PubMed

Stringer, Chris

2015-09-10

More than 1500 fossils from the Rising Star cave system in South Africa have been assigned to a new human species, Homo naledi, which displays a unique combination of primitive and derived traits throughout the skeleton.

Repeated learning makes cultural evolution unique

PubMed Central

Strimling, Pontus; Enquist, Magnus; Eriksson, Kimmo

2009-01-01

Although genetic information is acquired only once, cultural information can be both abandoned and reacquired during an individual's lifetime. Therefore, cultural evolution will be determined not only by cultural traits' ability to spread but also by how good they are at sticking with an individual; however, the evolutionary consequences of this aspect of culture have not previously been explored. Here we show that repeated learning and multiple characteristics of cultural traits make cultural evolution unique, allowing dynamical phenomena we can recognize as specifically cultural, such as traits that both spread quickly and disappear quickly. Importantly, the analysis of our model also yields a theoretical objection to the popular suggestion that biological and cultural evolution can be understood in similar terms. We find that the possibility to predict long-term cultural evolution by some success index, analogous to biological fitness, depends on whether individuals have few or many opportunities to learn. If learning opportunities are few, we find that the existence of a success index may be logically impossible, rendering notions of “cultural fitness” meaningless. On the other hand, if individuals can learn many times, we find a success index that works, regardless of whether the transmission pattern is vertical, oblique, or horizontal. PMID:19666615

DSM-5 Pathological Personality Traits and Intimate Partner Violence Among Male and Female College Students.

PubMed

Dowgwillo, Emily A; Ménard, Kim S; Krueger, Robert F; Pincus, Aaron L

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine associations between pathological personality traits identified in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed., DSM-5) Section III alternative model of personality disorder (using the Personality Inventory for DSM-5; PID-5) and intimate partner violence (IPV; using the Conflict Tactics Scale [CTS]) in a sample of male (N = 1,106) and female (N = 1,338) college students. In this sample, self and partner perpetration of CTS Relationship Violence and CTS Negotiation tactics loaded onto 2 separate factors. The PID-5 facets and domains were differentially associated with these factors for both men and women. Facets and domains explained 10.1%-16.1% and 5.8%-10.6% of the variance in CTS Relationship Violence tactics, respectively. For both genders, detachment was positively associated with relationship violence. Antagonism was uniquely associated with relationship violence for women, whereas disinhibition was uniquely associated with relationship violence for men. Associations with lower level pathological personality facets were also examined. Overall, results indicate that DSM-5 pathological personality traits are associated with IPV reported by both men and women.

Genomewide Association Studies for 50 Agronomic Traits in Peanut Using the ‘Reference Set’ Comprising 300 Genotypes from 48 Countries of the Semi-Arid Tropics of the World

PubMed Central

Pandey, Manish K.; Upadhyaya, Hari D.; Rathore, Abhishek; Vadez, Vincent; Sheshshayee, M. S.; Sriswathi, Manda; Govil, Mansee; Kumar, Ashish; Gowda, M. V. C.; Sharma, Shivali; Hamidou, Falalou; Kumar, V. Anil; Khera, Pawan; Bhat, Ramesh S.; Khan, Aamir W.; Singh, Sube; Li, Hongjie; Monyo, Emmanuel; Nadaf, H. L.; Mukri, Ganapati; Jackson, Scott A.; Guo, Baozhu; Liang, Xuanqiang; Varshney, Rajeev K.

2014-01-01

Peanut is an important and nutritious agricultural commodity and a livelihood of many small-holder farmers in the semi-arid tropics (SAT) of world which are facing serious production threats. Integration of genomics tools with on-going genetic improvement approaches is expected to facilitate accelerated development of improved cultivars. Therefore, high-resolution genotyping and multiple season phenotyping data for 50 important agronomic, disease and quality traits were generated on the ‘reference set’ of peanut. This study reports comprehensive analyses of allelic diversity, population structure, linkage disequilibrium (LD) decay and marker-trait association (MTA) in peanut. Distinctness of all the genotypes can be established by using either an unique allele detected by a single SSR or a combination of unique alleles by two or more than two SSR markers. As expected, DArT features (2.0 alleles/locus, 0.125 PIC) showed lower allele frequency and polymorphic information content (PIC) than SSRs (22.21 alleles /locus, 0.715 PIC). Both marker types clearly differentiated the genotypes of diploids from tetraploids. Multi-allelic SSRs identified three sub-groups (K = 3) while the LD simulation trend line based on squared-allele frequency correlations (r2) predicted LD decay of 15–20 cM in peanut genome. Detailed analysis identified a total of 524 highly significant MTAs (pvalue >2.1×10–6) with wide phenotypic variance (PV) range (5.81–90.09%) for 36 traits. These MTAs after validation may be deployed in improving biotic resistance, oil/ seed/ nutritional quality, drought tolerance related traits, and yield/ yield components. PMID:25140620

Genetic and environmental influences on Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-Fifth Edition (DSM-5) maladaptive personality traits and their connections with normative personality traits.

PubMed

Wright, Zara E; Pahlen, Shandell; Krueger, Robert F

2017-05-01

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders-Fifth Edition (DSM-5) proposes an alternative model for personality disorders, which includes maladaptive-level personality traits. These traits can be operationalized by the Personality Inventory for the DSM-5 (PID-5). Although there has been extensive research on genetic and environmental influences on normative level personality, the heritability of the DSM-5 traits remains understudied. The present study addresses this gap in the literature by assessing traits indexed by the PID-5 and the International Personality Item Pool NEO (IPIP-NEO) in adult twins (N = 1,812 individuals). Research aims include (a) replicating past findings of the heritability of normative level personality as measured by the IPIP-NEO as a benchmark for studying maladaptive level traits, (b) ascertaining univariate heritability estimates of maladaptive level traits as measured by the PID-5, (c) establishing how much variation in personality pathology can be attributed to the same genetic components affecting variation in normative level personality, and (d) determining residual variance in personality pathology domains after variance attributable to genetic and environmental components of general personality has been removed. Results revealed that PID-5 traits reflect similar levels of heritability to that of IPIP-NEO traits. Further, maladaptive and normative level traits that correlate at the phenotypic level also correlate at the genotypic level, indicating overlapping genetic components contribute to variance in both. Nevertheless, we also found evidence for genetic and environmental components unique to maladaptive level personality traits, not shared with normative level traits. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Identification of Immune Traits Correlated with Dairy Cow Health, Reproduction and Productivity

PubMed Central

Banos, Georgios; Wall, Eileen; Coffey, Michael P.; Bagnall, Ainsley; Gillespie, Sandra; Russell, George C.; McNeilly, Tom N.

2013-01-01

Detailed biological analyses (e.g. epidemiological, genetic) of animal health and fitness in the field are limited by the lack of large-scale recording of individual animals. An alternative approach is to identify immune traits that are associated with these important functions and can be subsequently used in more detailed studies. We have used an experimental dairy herd with uniquely dense phenotypic data to identify a range of potentially useful immune traits correlated with enhanced (or depressed) health and fitness. Blood samples from 248 dairy cows were collected at two-monthly intervals over a 10-month period and analysed for a number of immune traits, including levels of serum proteins associated with the innate immune response and circulating leukocyte populations. Immune measures were matched to individual cow records related to productivity, fertility and disease. Correlations between traits were calculated using bivariate analyses based on animal repeatability and random regression models with a Bonferroni correction to account for multiple testing. A number of significant correlations were found between immune traits and other recorded traits including: CD4+:CD8+ T lymphocyte ratio and subclinical mastitis; % CD8+ lymphocytes and fertility; % CD335+ natural killer cells and lameness episodes; and serum haptoglobin levels and clinical mastitis. Importantly these traits were not associated with reduced productivity and, in the case of cellular immune traits, were highly repeatable. Moreover these immune traits displayed significant between-animal variation suggesting that they may be altered by genetic selection. This study represents the largest simultaneous analysis of multiple immune traits in dairy cattle to-date and demonstrates that a number of immune traits are associated with health events. These traits represent useful selection markers for future programmes aimed at improving animal health and fitness. PMID:23776543

Kinetic trapping through coalescence and the formation of patterned Ag-Cu nanoparticles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grammatikopoulos, Panagiotis; Kioseoglou, Joseph; Galea, Antony; Vernieres, Jerome; Benelmekki, Maria; Diaz, Rosa E.; Sowwan, Mukhles

2016-05-01

In recent years, due to its inherent flexibility, magnetron-sputtering has been widely used to synthesise bi-metallic nanoparticles (NPs) via subsequent inert-gas cooling and gas-phase condensation of the sputtered atomic vapour. Utilising two separate sputter targets allows for good control over composition. Simultaneously, it involves fast kinetics and non-equilibrium processes, which can trap the nascent NPs into metastable configurations. In this study, we observed such configurations in immiscible, bi-metallic Ag-Cu NPs by scanning transmission electron microscopy (S/TEM) and electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS), and noticed a marked difference in the shape of NPs belonging to Ag- and Cu-rich samples. We explained the formation of Janus or Ag@Cu core/shell metastable structures on the grounds of in-flight mixed NP coalescence. We utilised molecular dynamics (MD) and Monte Carlo (MC) computer simulations to demonstrate that such configurations cannot occur as a result of nanoalloy segregation. Instead, sintering at relatively low temperatures can give rise to metastable structures, which eventually can be stabilised by subsequent quenching. Furthermore, we compared the heteroepitaxial diffusivities along various surfaces of both Ag and Cu NPs, and emphasised the differences between the sintering mechanisms of Ag- and Cu-rich NP compositions: small Cu NPs deform as coherent objects on large Ag NPs, whereas small Ag NPs dissolve into large Cu NPs, with their atoms diffusing along specific directions. Taking advantage of this observation, we propose controlled NP coalescence as a method to engineer mixed NPs of a unique, patterned core@partial-shell structure, which we refer to as a ``glass-float'' (ukidama) structure.In recent years, due to its inherent flexibility, magnetron-sputtering has been widely used to synthesise bi-metallic nanoparticles (NPs) via subsequent inert-gas cooling and gas-phase condensation of the sputtered atomic vapour. Utilising two separate sputter targets allows for good control over composition. Simultaneously, it involves fast kinetics and non-equilibrium processes, which can trap the nascent NPs into metastable configurations. In this study, we observed such configurations in immiscible, bi-metallic Ag-Cu NPs by scanning transmission electron microscopy (S/TEM) and electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS), and noticed a marked difference in the shape of NPs belonging to Ag- and Cu-rich samples. We explained the formation of Janus or Ag@Cu core/shell metastable structures on the grounds of in-flight mixed NP coalescence. We utilised molecular dynamics (MD) and Monte Carlo (MC) computer simulations to demonstrate that such configurations cannot occur as a result of nanoalloy segregation. Instead, sintering at relatively low temperatures can give rise to metastable structures, which eventually can be stabilised by subsequent quenching. Furthermore, we compared the heteroepitaxial diffusivities along various surfaces of both Ag and Cu NPs, and emphasised the differences between the sintering mechanisms of Ag- and Cu-rich NP compositions: small Cu NPs deform as coherent objects on large Ag NPs, whereas small Ag NPs dissolve into large Cu NPs, with their atoms diffusing along specific directions. Taking advantage of this observation, we propose controlled NP coalescence as a method to engineer mixed NPs of a unique, patterned core@partial-shell structure, which we refer to as a ``glass-float'' (ukidama) structure. Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available. See DOI: 10.1039/c5nr08256k

Pollinator-mediated natural selection in Penstemon digitalis.

PubMed

Parachnowitsch, Amy; Kessler, André

2010-12-01

Measuring the agents of natural selection is important because it allows us to understand not only which traits are expected to evolve but also why they will evolve. Natural selection by pollinators on floral traits is often assumed because in outcrossing animal-pollinated plants flowers are generally thought to function as advertisements of rewards directed at pollinators. We tested the role of bee pollinators in selection on Penstemon digitalis and found that pollinators were driving selection for larger and more flowers. However, what makes our publication unique is the additional information we gained from reviewing the few other studies that also directly tested whether pollinators were agents of selection on floral traits. As we would expect if pollinators are important agents of selection, selection on floral traits was significantly stronger when pollinators were present than when they were experimentally removed. Taken together, these results suggest that pollinators can be important drivers of selection in contemporary populations.

Systems biology approach in plant abiotic stresses.

PubMed

Mohanta, Tapan Kumar; Bashir, Tufail; Hashem, Abeer; Abd Allah, Elsayed Fathi

2017-12-01

Plant abiotic stresses are the major constraint on plant growth and development, causing enormous crop losses across the world. Plants have unique features to defend themselves against these challenging adverse stress conditions. They modulate their phenotypes upon changes in physiological, biochemical, molecular and genetic information, thus making them tolerant against abiotic stresses. It is of paramount importance to determine the stress-tolerant traits of a diverse range of genotypes of plant species and integrate those traits for crop improvement. Stress-tolerant traits can be identified by conducting genome-wide analysis of stress-tolerant genotypes through the highly advanced structural and functional genomics approach. Specifically, whole-genome sequencing, development of molecular markers, genome-wide association studies and comparative analysis of interaction networks between tolerant and susceptible crop varieties grown under stress conditions can greatly facilitate discovery of novel agronomic traits that protect plants against abiotic stresses. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Copper oxide loaded PLGA nanospheres: towards a multifunctional nanoscale platform for ultrasound-based imaging and therapy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Perlman, Or; Weitz, Iris S.; Sivan, Sarit S.; Abu-Khalla, Hiba; Benguigui, Madeleine; Shaked, Yuval; Azhari, Haim

2018-05-01

Copper oxide nanoparticles (CuO-NPs) are increasingly becoming the subject of investigation exploring their potential use for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. Recent work has demonstrated their anticancer potential, as well as contrast agent capabilities for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and through-transmission ultrasound. However, no capability of CuO-NPs has been demonstrated using conventional ultrasound systems, which, unlike the former, are widely deployed in the clinic. Furthermore, in spite of their potential as multifunctional nano-based materials for diagnosis and therapy, CuO-NPs have been delayed from further clinical application due to their inherent toxicity. Herein, we present the synthesis of a novel nanoscale system, composed of CuO-loaded PLGA nanospheres (CuO-PLGA-NS), and demonstrate its imaging detectability and augmented heating effect by therapeutic ultrasound. The CuO-PLGA-NS were prepared by a double emulsion (W/O/W) method with subsequent solvent evaporation. They were characterized as sphere-shaped, with size approximately 200 nm. Preliminary results showed that the viability of PANC-1, human pancreatic adenocarcinoma cells was not affected after 72 h exposure to CuO-PLGA-NS, implying that PLGA masks the toxic effects of CuO-NPs. A systematic ultrasound imaging evaluation of CuO-PLGA-NS, using a conventional system, was performed in vitro and ex vivo using poultry heart and liver, and also in vivo using mice, all yielding a significant contrast enhancement. In contrast to CuO-PLGA-NS, neither bare CuO-NPs nor blank PLGA-NS possess these unique advantageous ultrasonic properties. Furthermore, CuO-PLGA-NS accelerated ultrasound-induced temperature elevation by more than 4 °C within 2 min. The heating efficiency (cumulative equivalent minutes at 43 °C) was increased approximately six-fold, demonstrating the potential for improved ultrasound ablation. In conclusion, CuO-PLGA-NS constitute a versatile platform, potentially useful for combined imaging and therapeutic ultrasound-based procedures.

Antisite Defects in Layered Multiferroic CuCr 0.9In 0.1P 2S 6

DOE PAGES

He, Qian; Belianinov, Alex; Dziaugys, Andrius; ...

2015-10-06

The CuCr 1-xIn xP 2S 6 system represents a large family of metal chalcogenophosphates that are unique and promising candidates for 2D materials with functionalities such as ferroelectricity. We carried out detailed microstructural and chemical characterization of these compounds using aberration-corrected STEM, in order to understand the origin of these different ordering phenomena. Quantitative STEM-HAADF imaging and analysis identified the stacking order of an 8-layer thin flake, which leads to the identification of anti-site In 3+(Cu +) doping. We believe that these findings will pave the way towards understanding the ferroic coupling phenomena in van der Waals lamellar compounds, asmore » well as the potential applications in 2-D electronics.« less

Antisite defects in layered multiferroic CuCr(0.9)In(0.1)P2S6.

PubMed

He, Qian; Belianinov, Alex; Dziaugys, Andrius; Maksymovych, Petro; Vysochanskii, Yulian; Kalinin, Sergei V; Borisevich, Albina Y

2015-11-28

The CuCr1-xInxP2S6 system represents a large family of metal chalcogenophosphates that are unique and promising candidates for 2D materials with functionalities such as ferroelectricity. In this work, we carried out detailed microstructural and chemical characterization of these compounds using aberration-corrected STEM, in order to understand the origin of these different ordering phenomena. Quantitative STEM-HAADF imaging and analysis identified the stacking order of an 8-layer thin flake, which leads to the identification of anti-site In(3+)(Cu(+)) doping. We believe that these findings will pave the way towards understanding the ferroic coupling phenomena in van der Waals lamellar compounds, as well as their potential applications in 2-D electronics.

Expansion of a globally pervasive grass occurs without substantial trait differences between home and away populations.

PubMed

Leifso, A; MacDougall, A S; Husband, B; Hierro, J L; Köchy, M; Pärtel, M; Peltzer, D A

2012-12-01

The global expansion of species beyond their ancestral ranges can derive from mechanisms that are trait-based (e.g., post-establishment evolved differences compared to home populations) or circumstantial (e.g., propagule pressure, with no trait-based differences). These mechanisms can be difficult to distinguish following establishment, but each makes unique predictions regarding trait similarity between ancestral ('home') and introduced ('away') populations. Here, we tested for trait-based population differences across four continents for the globally distributed grass Dactylis glomerata, to assess the possible role of trait evolution in its worldwide expansion. We used a common-environment glasshouse experiment to quantify trait differences among home and away populations, and the potential relevance of these differences for competitive interactions. Few significant trait differences were found among continents, suggesting minimal change during global expansion. All populations were polyploids, with similar foliar carbon:nitrogen ratios (a proxy for defense), chlorophyll content, and biomass. Emergence time and growth rate favored home populations, resulting in their competitive superiority over away populations. Small but significant trait differences among away populations suggest different introductory histories or local adaptive responses following establishment. In summary, the worldwide distribution of this species appears to have arisen from its pre-adapted traits promoting growth, and its repeated introduction with cultivation and intense propagule pressure. Global expansion can thus occur without substantial shifts in growth, reproduction, or defense. Rather than focusing strictly on the invader, invasion success may also derive from the traits found (or lacking) in the recipient community and from environmental context including human disturbance.

Short communication: Traits unique to genus Homo within primates at the cervical spine (C2-C7).

PubMed

Rios, Luis; Muñoz, Alexandra; Cardoso, Hugo; Pastor, Francisco

2014-05-01

From a comparative study of 222 human and 261 nonhuman primates complete cervical spines, two bony variants associated to the course of the vertebral artery are proposed as unique to genus Homo within primates. First, the opening of the foramen transversarium at C2, a trait present at low frequency in humans (3 to 5.6%). Second, the presence of a bipartite foramen transversarium in the cervical segment C3-C6, a trait that can be observed fully formed in human fetal skeletons, with a clear frequency pattern along the cervical spine (C3>C4>C5>C6

The many mysteries of Homo naledi

PubMed Central

2015-01-01

More than 1500 fossils from the Rising Star cave system in South Africa have been assigned to a new human species, Homo naledi, which displays a unique combination of primitive and derived traits throughout the skeleton. PMID:26354290

Immobilization of gold nanoclusters inside porous electrospun fibers for selective detection of Cu(II): A strategic approach to shielding pristine performance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Senthamizhan, Anitha; Celebioglu, Asli; Balusamy, Brabu; Uyar, Tamer

2015-10-01

Here, a distinct demonstration of highly sensitive and selective detection of copper (Cu2+) in a vastly porous cellulose acetate fibers (pCAF) has been carried out using dithiothreitol capped gold nanocluster (DTT.AuNC) as fluorescent probe. A careful optimization of all potential factors affecting the performance of the probe for effective detection of Cu2+ were studied and the resultant sensor strip exhibiting unique features including high stability, retained parent fluorescence nature and reproducibility. The visual colorimetric detection of Cu2+ in water, presenting the selective sensing performance towards Cu2+ ions over Zn2+, Cd2+ and Hg2+ under UV light in naked eye, contrast to other metal ions that didn’t significantly produce such a change. The comparative sensing performance of DTT.AuNC@pCAF, keeping the nonporous CA fiber (DTT.AuNC@nCAF) as a support matrix has been demonstrated. The resulting weak response of DTT.AuNC@nCAF denotes the lack of ligand protection leading to the poor coordination ability with Cu2+. The determined detection limit (50 ppb) is far lower than the maximum level of Cu2+ in drinking water (1.3 ppm) set by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). An interesting find from this study has been the specific oxidation nature between Cu2+ and DTT.AuNC, offering solid evidence for selective sensors.

Room-temperature Domain-epitaxy of Copper Iodide Thin Films for Transparent CuI/ZnO Heterojunctions with High Rectification Ratios Larger than 109

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Chang; Kneiß, Max; Schein, Friedrich-Leonhard; Lorenz, Michael; Grundmann, Marius

2016-02-01

CuI is a p-type transparent conductive semiconductor with unique optoelectronic properties, including wide band gap (3.1 eV), high hole mobility (>40 cm2 V-1 s-1 in bulk), and large room-temperature exciton binding energy (62 meV). The difficulty in epitaxy of CuI is the main obstacle for its application in advanced solid-state electronic devices. Herein, room-temperature heteroepitaxial growth of CuI on various substrates with well-defined in-plane epitaxial relations is realized by reactive sputtering technique. In such heteroepitaxial growth the formation of rotation domains is observed and hereby systematically investigated in accordance with existing theoretical study of domain-epitaxy. The controllable epitaxy of CuI thin films allows for the combination of p-type CuI with suitable n-type semiconductors with the purpose to fabricate epitaxial thin film heterojunctions. Such heterostructures have superior properties to structures without or with weakly ordered in-plane orientation. The obtained epitaxial thin film heterojunction of p-CuI(111)/n-ZnO(00.1) exhibits a high rectification up to 2 × 109 (±2 V), a 100-fold improvement compared to diodes with disordered interfaces. Also a low saturation current density down to 5 × 10-9 Acm-2 is formed. These results prove the great potential of epitaxial CuI as a promising p-type optoelectronic material.

Room-temperature vertically-aligned copper oxide nanoblades synthesized by electrochemical restructuring of copper hydroxide nanorods: An electrode for high energy density hybrid device

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Xuetao; Zhou, Jinyuan; Dou, Wei; Wang, Junya; Mu, Xuemei; Zhang, Yue; Abas, Asim; Su, Qing; Lan, Wei; Xie, Erqing; Zhang, Chuanfang (John)

2018-04-01

The fast growing of portable electronics has greatly stimulated the development of energy storage materials, such as transition metal oxides (TMOs). However, TMOs usually involve harsh synthesis conditions, such as high temperature. Here we take advantage of the metastable nature of Cu(OH)2 and grow CuO nanoblades (NBs) on Cu foam under the electric field at room temperature. The electrochemical polarization accelerates the dissolution of Cu(OH)2 nanorods, guides the deposition of the as-dissolved Cu(OH)42- species and eventually leads to the phase transformation of CuO NBs. The unique materials architecture render the vertically-aligned CuO NBs with enhanced electronic and ionic diffusion kinetics, high charge storage (∼779 mC cm-2 at 1 mA cm-2), excellent rate capability and long-term cycling performances. Further matching with activated carbon electrode results in high-performance hybrid device, which displays a wide voltage window (1.7 V) in aqueous electrolyte, high energy density (0.17 mWh cm-2) and power density (34 mW cm-2) coupled with long lifetime, surpassing the best CuO based device known. The hybrid device can be randomly connected and power several light-emitting diodes. Importantly, such an electrochemical restructuring approach is cost-effective, environmentally green and universal, and can be extended to synthesize other metastable hydroxides to in-situ grow corresponding oxides.

Possible Peroxo State of the Dicopper Site of Particulate Methane Monooxygenase from Combined Quantum Mechanics and Molecular Mechanics Calculations.

PubMed

Itoyama, Shuhei; Doitomi, Kazuki; Kamachi, Takashi; Shiota, Yoshihito; Yoshizawa, Kazunari

2016-03-21

Enzymatic methane hydroxylation is proposed to efficiently occur at the dinuclear copper site of particulate methane monooxygenase (pMMO), which is an integral membrane metalloenzyme in methanotrophic bacteria. The resting state and a possible peroxo state of the dicopper active site of pMMO are discussed by using combined quantum mechanics and molecular mechanics calculations on the basis of reported X-ray crystal structures of the resting state of pMMO by Rosenzweig and co-workers. The dicopper site has a unique structure, in which one copper is coordinated by two histidine imidazoles and another is chelated by a histidine imidazole and primary amine of an N-terminal histidine. The resting state of the dicopper site is assignable to the mixed-valent Cu(I)Cu(II) state from a computed Cu-Cu distance of 2.62 Å from calculations at the B3LYP-D/TZVP level of theory. A μ-η(2):η(2)-peroxo-Cu(II)2 structure similar to those of hemocyanin and tyrosinase is reasonably obtained by using the resting state structure and dioxygen. Computed Cu-Cu and O-O distances are 3.63 and 1.46 Å, respectively, in the open-shell singlet state. Structural features of the dicopper peroxo species of pMMO are compared with those of hemocyanin and tyrosinase and synthetic dicopper model compounds. Optical features of the μ-η(2):η(2)-peroxo-Cu(II)2 state are calculated and analyzed with TD-DFT calculations.

Novel β-C3N4/CuO nanoflakes: facile synthesis and unique photocatalytic performance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zou, Lan-Rong; Huang, Gui-Fang; Li, Dong-Feng; Tian, Qing-Nan; Yang, Ke; Si, Yuan; Chang, Shengli; Zhang, Xue-Ao; Huang, Wei-Qing

2017-09-01

For the first time, novel β-C3N4/CuO composites with superior photocatalytic activity are successfully fabricated via a facile reflux method followed by a thermal process. The morphologies, particle size and microstructure of the synthesized β-C3N4/CuO composites largely depended upon copper chloride and the volume ratio of V water:V ethanol in the mixed precursors. The fabricated β-C3N4/CuO nanoflakes exhibited obviously enhanced visible light photocatalytic activity for the degradation of methylene blue (MB) with an  ˜3.4 and 1.9 fold increase in efficiency over that of pure g-C3N4 and commercial P25, respectively. The β-C3N4/CuO composite photocatalyst also showed photocatalytic activity for the degradation of methyl orange (MO). Moreover, the β-C3N4/CuO nanoflakes showed almost no loss of photocatalytic activity after three recycles of the degradation of the MB. A multiple synergetic mechanism in β-C3N4/CuO nanoflakes, which is featured by the highly reactive {0 0 2} facets, exposed many active sites of nanoflakes and the efficient charge separation are proposed to account for the distinguished photocatalytic activity. This work provides a facile and cost-effective strategy for designing novel β-C3N4/CuO photocatalysts for application in environmental purification.

Interpersonal characteristics of male criminal offenders: personality, psychopathological, and behavioral correlates.

PubMed

Edens, John F

2009-03-01

Interest in conceptualizing the interpersonal style of individuals who engage in serious antisocial behavior has increased in recent years. This study examines the personality, psychopathological, and behavioral correlates of interpersonal dominance and warmth, as operationalized via scales of the Personality Assessment Inventory (L. Morey, 2007), across several samples of male prison inmates (combined N = 1,062). Consistent with theory, multivariate analyses indicated that low warmth and, to a lesser extent, high dominance were associated with antisocial and paranoid traits, specifically, and externalizing-spectrum psychopathology more generally, whereas borderline traits and internalizing-spectrum psychopathology were uniquely associated with low interpersonal warmth. Among smaller subsamples of inmates followed prospectively, high dominance and, to a lesser extent, low warmth predicted general and aggressive institutional misconduct, whereas dominance uniquely predicted staff ratings of treatment noncompliance/failure. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved).

Optoelectronic and Defect Properties in Earth Abundant Photovoltaic Materials: First-principle Calculations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shi, Tingting

In this dissertation, a series of earth-abundant photovoltaic materials including lead halide perovskites, copper based compounds, and silicon are investigated via density functional theory (DFT). Firstly, we study the unique optoelectronic properties of perovskite CH3NH3PbI3 and CH3NH3PbBr 3. First-principle calculations show that CH3NH3PbI 3 perovskite solar cells exhibit remarkable optoelectronic properties that account for the high open circuit voltage (Voc) and long electron-hole diffusion lengths. Our results reveal that for intrinsic doping, dominant point defects produce only shallow levels. Therefore lead halide perovskites are expected to exhibit intrinsic low non-radiative recombination rates. The conductivity of perovskites can be tuned from p-type to n-type by controlling the growth conditions. For extrinsic defects, the p-type perovskites can be achieved by doping group-IA, -IB, or -VIA elements, such as Na, K, Rb, Cu, and O at I-rich growth conditions. We further show that despite a large band gap of 2.2 eV, the dominant defects in CH3 NH3PbBr3 also create only shallow levels. The photovoltaic properties of CH3NH3PbBr3 - based perovskite absorbers can be tuned via defect engineering. Highly conductive p-type CH3NH3PbBr3 can be synthesized under Br-rich growth conditions. Such CH3NH3PbBr 3 may be potential low-cost hole transporting materials for lead halide perovskite solar cells. All these unique defect properties of perovskites are largely due to the strong Pb lone-pair s orbital and I p (Br p) orbital antibonding coupling and the high ionicity of CH3NH3PbX3 (X=I, Br). Secondly, we study the optoelectronic properties of Cu-V-VI earth abundant compounds. These low cost thin films may have the good electronic and optical properties. We have studied the structural, electronic and optical properties of Cu3-V-VI4 compounds. After testing four different crystal structures, enargite, wurtzite-PMCA, famatinite and zinc-blend-PMCA, we find that Cu3PS4 and Cu3PSe4 prefer energetically the enargite structure, whereas, other compounds favor the famatinite structure. Among the compounds and structures considered, enargite Cu3PSe4, and famatinite Cu3AsS4, are suitable for single junction solar cell applications due to bandgaps of 1.32 eV and 1.15 eV, respectively. Furthermore, CuSbS2 are also studied by density functional theory and HSE06 hybrid functional. The chalcostibite CuSbS2 has an indirect band gap of 1.85 eV, whereas the chalcogenide Cu3SbS4 has a direct band gap of 0.89 eV. We find that the large difference on band gaps is mainly attributed to the different Sb charge states. We further predict that the Sb charge states will affect the defect physics. Particularly, the Sb lone pair s orbitals in CuSbS 2 have strong influence on the formation energies of Sb-related defects. Lastly, we have studied the atomic structure and electronic properties of aluminum (Al)-related defect complexes in silicon. We find a unique stable complex configuration consisting of an Ali and an oxygen dimer, Ali-2Oi, which introduces deep levels in the band gap of Si. The formation energies of the Ali-2Oi complexes could be lower than that of individual Ali atoms under oxygen-rich conditions. The formation of Ali-2Oi complexes may explain the experimental observation that the coexistence of Al and O results in reduced carrier lifetime in Si wafers.

Composition-Dependent Morphology of Bi- and Trimetallic Phosphides: Construction of Amorphous Pd-Cu-Ni-P Nanoparticles as a Selective and Versatile Catalyst.

PubMed

Zhao, Ming; Ji, Yuan; Wang, Mengyue; Zhong, Ning; Kang, Zinan; Asao, Naoki; Jiang, Wen-Jie; Chen, Qiang

2017-10-11

Amorphous materials have been widely researched in heterogeneous catalysis and for next-generation batteries. However, the well-defined production of high-quality (e.g., monodisperse and high surface area) amorphous alloy nanomaterials has rarely been reported. In this work, we investigated the correlations among the composition, morphology, and catalysis of various Pd-M-P nanoparticles (NPs) (M = Cu or Ni), which indicated that less Cu (≤20 atom %) was necessary for the formation of an amorphous morphology. The amorphous Pd-Cu-Ni-P NPs were fabricated with a controllable size and characterized carefully, which show excellent selective catalysis in the semihydrogenation of alkynes, hydrogenation of quinoline, and oxidation of primary alcohols. The uniqueness of the catalytic performance was confirmed by control experiments with monometallic Pd, amorphous Pd-Ni-P NPs, crystalline Pd-Cu-P NPs, and a crystalline counterpart of Pd-Cu-Ni-P catalyst. The catalytic selectivity likely arose from improved Pd-M (M = Cu or Ni) synergistic effects in the amorphous phase and the electron deficiency of Pd. The model reactions proceeded under H 2 or O 2 gas without any additives, bases, or metal oxide supports, and the catalyst could be reused several times. This report is expected to shed light on the design of amorphous alloy nanomaterials as green and inexpensive catalysts for atom-economic and selective reactions.

Spin glass behavior in frustrated quantum spin system CuAl 2 O 4 with a possible orbital liquid state

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Nirmala, R.; Jang, Kwang-Hyun; Sim, Hasung

2017-02-15

CuAl 2O 4 is a normal spinel oxide having quantum spin, S = 1/2 for Cu 2+. It is a rather unique feature that the Cu 2+ ions of CuAl 2O 4 sit at a tetrahedral position, not like the usual octahedral position for many oxides. At low temperatures, it exhibits all the thermodynamic evidence of a quantum spin glass. For example, the polycrystalline CuAl 2O 4 shows a cusp centered at ~2 K in the low-field dc magnetization data and a clear frequency dependence in the ac magnetic susceptibility while it displays logarithmic relaxation behavior in a time dependencemore » of the magnetization. At the same time, there is a peak at ~2.3 K in the heat capacity, which shifts towards a higher temperature with magnetic fields. Conversely, there is no evidence of new superlattice peaks in the high-resolution neutron powder diffraction data when cooled from 40 to 0.4 K. This implies that there is no long-ranged magnetic order down to 0.4 K, thus confirming a spin glass-like ground state for CuAl 2O 4. Interestingly, there is no sign of structural distortion either although Cu 2+ is a Jahn–Teller active ion. Therefore, we claim that an orbital liquid state is the most likely ground state in CuAl 2O 4. Of further interest, it also exhibits a large frustration parameter, f = |θ CW/T m| ~ 67, one of the largest values reported for spinel oxides. These observations suggest that CuAl 2O 4 should be a rare example of a frustrated quantum spin glass with a good candidate for an orbital liquid state.« less

Promoting Ethylene Selectivity from CO2 Electroreduction on CuO Supported onto CO2 Capture Materials.

PubMed

Yang, Hui-Juan; Yang, Hong; Hong, Yu-Hao; Zhang, Peng-Yang; Wang, Tao; Chen, Li-Na; Zhang, Feng-Yang; Wu, Qi-Hui; Tian, Na; Zhou, Zhi-You; Sun, Shi-Gang

2018-03-09

Cu is a unique catalyst for CO 2 electroreduction, since it can catalyze CO 2 reduction to a series of hydrocarbons, alcohols, and carboxylic acids. Nevertheless, such Cu catalysts suffer from poor selectivity. High pressure of CO 2 is considered to facilitate the activity and selectivity of CO 2 reduction. Herein, a new strategy is presented for CO 2 reduction with improved C 2 H 4 selectivity on a Cu catalyst by using CO 2 capture materials as the support at ambient pressure. N-doped carbon (N x C) was synthesized through high-temperature carbonization of melamine and l-lysine. We observed that the CO 2 uptake capacity of N x C depends on both the microporous area and the content of pyridinic N species, which can be controlled by the carbonization temperature (600-800 °C). The as-prepared CuO/N x C catalysts exhibit a considerably higher C 2 H 4 faradaic efficiency (36 %) than CuO supported on XC-72 carbon black (19 %), or unsupported CuO (20 %). Moreover, there is a good linear relationship between the C 2 H 4 faradaic efficiency and CO 2 uptake capacity of the supports for CuO. The local high CO 2 concentration near Cu catalysts, created by CO 2 capture materials, was proposed to increase the coverage of CO intermediate, which is favorable for the coupling of two CO units in the formation of C 2 H 4 . This study demonstrates that pairing Cu catalysts with CO 2 capture supports is a promising approach for designing highly effective CO 2 reduction electrocatalysts. © 2018 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Developing JSequitur to Study the Hierarchical Structure of Biological Sequences in a Grammatical Inference Framework of String Compression Algorithms.

PubMed

Galbadrakh, Bulgan; Lee, Kyung-Eun; Park, Hyun-Seok

2012-12-01

Grammatical inference methods are expected to find grammatical structures hidden in biological sequences. One hopes that studies of grammar serve as an appropriate tool for theory formation. Thus, we have developed JSequitur for automatically generating the grammatical structure of biological sequences in an inference framework of string compression algorithms. Our original motivation was to find any grammatical traits of several cancer genes that can be detected by string compression algorithms. Through this research, we could not find any meaningful unique traits of the cancer genes yet, but we could observe some interesting traits in regards to the relationship among gene length, similarity of sequences, the patterns of the generated grammar, and compression rate.

A multitrait-multimethod analysis of variance of teachers' ratings of aggression, hyperactivity, and inattention.

PubMed

Roberts, M A; Milich, R; Loney, J; Caputo, J

1981-09-01

The convergent and discriminant validities of three teacher rating scale measures of the traits of hyperactivity, aggression, and inattention were explored, using the multitrait-multimethod matrix approach of Campbell and Fiske (1959), as well as an analysis of variance procedure (Stanley, 1961). In the present study teachers rated children from their elementary school classrooms on the above traits. The results provided strong evidence for convergent validity. Data also indicated that these traits can be reliable differentiated by teachers, suggesting that research aimed at better understanding the unique contributions of hyperactivity, aggression, and inattention is warranted. The respective benefits of analyzing multitrait-multimethod matrices by employing the ANOVA procedure or by using the Campbell and Fiske (1959) criteria were discussed.

Does state boredom cause failures of attention? Examining the relations between trait boredom, state boredom, and sustained attention.

PubMed

Hunter, Andrew; Eastwood, John D

2016-08-10

Boredom is an important personal and social problem, but the phenomena itself remains poorly understood. Recent work has shown that boredom is highly related to attention, and that this relationship may be instrumental in revealing boredom's causes and consequences. In this paper, experimental findings on trait boredom, state boredom, and sustained attention performance are presented. We demonstrate that trait boredom uniquely predicts sustained attention performance, over and above depression and self-report attention problems. We also present exploratory findings consistent with the claim that attention failures may cause boredom and that sustained attention tasks may themselves be boring. Discussion of each of these findings, and potential ramifications for cognitive research as a whole, is included.

Observed parenting behaviors interact with a polymorphism of the brain-derived neurotrophic factor gene to predict the emergence of oppositional defiant and callous-unemotional behaviors at age 3 years.

PubMed

Willoughby, Michael T; Mills-Koonce, Roger; Propper, Cathi B; Waschbusch, Daniel A

2013-11-01

Using the Durham Child Health and Development Study, this study (N = 171) tested whether observed parenting behaviors in infancy (6 and 12 months) and toddlerhood/preschool (24 and 36 months) interacted with a child polymorphism of the brain-derived neurotrophic factor gene to predict oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) and callous-unemotional (CU) behaviors at age 3 years. Child genotype interacted with observed harsh and intrusive (but not sensitive) parenting to predict ODD and CU behaviors. Harsh-intrusive parenting was more strongly associated with ODD and CU for children with a methionine allele of the brain-derived neurotrophic factor gene. CU behaviors were uniquely predicted by harsh-intrusive parenting in infancy, whereas ODD behaviors were predicted by harsh-intrusive parenting in both infancy and toddlerhood/preschool. The results are discussed from the perspective of the contributions of caregiving behaviors as contributing to distinct aspects of early onset disruptive behavior.

Strong, ductile, and thermally stable Cu-based metal-intermetallic nanostructured composites.

PubMed

Dusoe, Keith J; Vijayan, Sriram; Bissell, Thomas R; Chen, Jie; Morley, Jack E; Valencia, Leopolodo; Dongare, Avinash M; Aindow, Mark; Lee, Seok-Woo

2017-01-09

Bulk metallic glasses (BMGs) and nanocrystalline metals (NMs) have been extensively investigated due to their superior strengths and elastic limits. Despite these excellent mechanical properties, low ductility at room temperature and poor microstructural stability at elevated temperatures often limit their practical applications. Thus, there is a need for a metallic material system that can overcome these performance limits of BMGs and NMs. Here, we present novel Cu-based metal-intermetallic nanostructured composites (MINCs), which exhibit high ultimate compressive strengths (over 2 GPa), high compressive failure strain (over 20%), and superior microstructural stability even at temperatures above the glass transition temperature of Cu-based BMGs. Rapid solidification produces a unique ultra-fine microstructure that contains a large volume fraction of Cu 5 Zr superlattice intermetallic compound; this contributes to the high strength and superior thermal stability. Mechanical and microstructural characterizations reveal that substantial accumulation of phase boundary sliding at metal/intermetallic interfaces accounts for the extensive ductility observed.

Microstructural evolution during aging of an Al-Cu-Li-Ag-Mg-Zr alloy

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kumar, K. S.; Brown, S. A.; Pickens, Joseph R.

1991-01-01

Alloys in the Al-Cu-Li Ag-Mg subsystem were developed that exhibit desirable combinations of strength and ductility. These Weldalite (trademark) alloys, are unique for Al-Cu-Li alloys in that with or without a prior cold stretching operation, they obtain excellent strength-ductility combinations upon natural and artificial aging. This is significant because it enables complex, near-net shape products such as forgings and super plastically formed parts to be heat treated to ultra-high strengths. On the other hand, commercial extrusions, rolled plates and sheets of other Al-Cu-Li alloys are typically subjected to a cold stretching operation before artificial aging to the highest strength tempers to introduce dislocations that provide low-energy nucleation sites for strengthening precipitates such as the T(sub 1) phase. The variation in yield strength (YS) with Li content in the near-peak aged condition for these Weldalite (trademark) alloys and the associated microstructures were examined, and the results are discussed.

Effect of Back Contact and Rapid Thermal Processing Conditions on Flexible CdTe Device Performance

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mahabaduge, Hasitha; Meysing, D. M.; Rance, Will L.

Flexible CdTe solar cells on ultra-thin glass substrates can enable new applications that require high specific power, unique form-factors, and low manufacturing costs. To be successful, these cells must be cost competitive, have high efficiency, and have high reliability. Here we present back contact processing conditions that enabled us to achieve over 16% efficiency on flexible Corning (R) Willow (R) Glass substrates. We used co-evaporated ZnTe:Cu and Au as our back contact and used rapid thermal processing (RTP) to activate the back contact. Both the ZnTe to Cu ratio and the RTP activation temperature provide independent control over the devicemore » performance. We have investigated the influence of various RTP conditions to Cu activation and distribution. Current density-voltage, capacitance-voltage measurements along with device simulations were used to examine the device performance in terms of ZnTe to Cu ratio and rapid thermal activation temperature.« less

Metal-ligand delocalization and spin density in the CuCl2 and [CuCl4](2-) molecules: Some insights from wave function theory.

PubMed

Giner, Emmanuel; Angeli, Celestino

2015-09-28

The aim of this paper is to unravel the physical phenomena involved in the calculation of the spin density of the CuCl2 and [CuCl4](2-) systems using wave function methods. Various types of wave functions are used here, both variational and perturbative, to analyse the effects impacting the spin density. It is found that the spin density on the chlorine ligands strongly depends on the mixing between two types of valence bond structures. It is demonstrated that the main difficulties found in most of the previous studies based on wave function methods come from the fact that each valence bond structure requires a different set of molecular orbitals and that using a unique set of molecular orbitals in a variational procedure leads to the removal of one of them from the wave function. Starting from these results, a method to compute the spin density at a reasonable computational cost is proposed.

Rational design of binder-free noble metal/metal oxide arrays with nanocauliflower structure for wide linear range nonenzymatic glucose detection

PubMed Central

Li, Zhenzhen; Xin, Yanmei; Zhang, Zhonghai; Wu, Hongjun; Wang, Peng

2015-01-01

One-dimensional nanocomposites of metal-oxide and noble metal were expected to present superior performance for nonenzymatic glucose detection due to its good conductivity and high catalytic activity inherited from noble metal and metal oxide respectively. As a proof of concept, we synthesized gold and copper oxide (Au/CuO) composite with unique one-dimensional nanocauliflowers structure. Due to the nature of the synthesis method, no any foreign binder was needed in keeping either Au or CuO in place. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first attempt in combining metal oxide and noble metal in a binder-free style for fabricating nonenzymatic glucose sensor. The Au/CuO nanocauliflowers with large electrochemical active surface and high electrolyte contact area would promise a wide linear range and high sensitive detection of glucose with good stability and reproducibility due to its good electrical conductivity of Au and high electrocatalytic activity of CuO. PMID:26068705

Strongly reduced Ehrlich-Schwoebel barriers at the Cu (111) stepped surface with In and Pb surfactants

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hao, Jialei; Zhang, Lixin

2018-01-01

A surfactant can modify the properties of the surface and induce different mode of epitaxy growth. The atomistic mechanism is not fully understood yet. In this first-principles study, taking Cu homoepitaxy along (111) direction as an example, we show that the distribution of the surfactant atoms on the surface is the key. For In and Pb, they prefer to locate at the step edges and remain isolated. Once the growth is started, the distribution can be further modified by Cu adatoms. The uniquely decorated step edges have much lowered Ehrlich-Schwoebel (ES) barriers than that of the clean edges, thus the two dimensional growth on Cu (111) surface is promoted significantly. On the other hand, for Rh, Ir, and Au, these atoms are not favored at the step edges. The ES barriers can't be affected and these metals are not surfactants. The result is very helpful for searching of the optimal surfactants in metal homoepitaxy.

Order of magnitude improvement of nano-contact spin torque nano-oscillator performance.

PubMed

Banuazizi, Seyed Amir Hossein; Sani, Sohrab R; Eklund, Anders; Naiini, Maziar M; Mohseni, Seyed Majid; Chung, Sunjae; Dürrenfeld, Philipp; Malm, B Gunnar; Åkerman, Johan

2017-02-02

Spin torque nano-oscillators (STNO) represent a unique class of nano-scale microwave signal generators and offer a combination of intriguing properties, such as nano sized footprint, ultrafast modulation rates, and highly tunable microwave frequencies from 100 MHz to close to 100 GHz. However, their low output power and relatively high threshold current still limit their applicability and must be improved. In this study, we investigate the influence of the bottom Cu electrode thickness (t Cu ) in nano-contact STNOs based on Co/Cu/NiFe GMR stacks and with nano-contact diameters ranging from 60 to 500 nm. Increasing t Cu from 10 to 70 nm results in a 40% reduction of the threshold current, an order of magnitude higher microwave output power, and close to two orders of magnitude better power conversion efficiency. Numerical simulations of the current distribution suggest that these dramatic improvements originate from a strongly reduced lateral current spread in the magneto-dynamically active region.

Strategies for defining traits when calculating economic values for livestock breeding: a review.

PubMed

Wolfová, M; Wolf, J

2013-09-01

The objective of the present review was (i) to survey different approaches for choosing the complex of traits for which economic values (EVs) are calculated, (ii) to call attention to the proper definition of traits and (iii) to discuss the manner and extent to which relationships among traits have been considered in the calculation of EVs. For this purpose, papers dealing with the estimation of EVs of traits in livestock were reviewed. The most important reasons for incompatibility of EVs for similar traits estimated in different countries and by different authors were found to be inconsistencies in trait definitions and in assumptions being made about relationships among traits. An important problem identified was how to choose the most appropriate criterion to characterise production or functional ability for a particular class of animals. Accordingly, the review covered the following three topics: (i) which trait(s) would best characterise the growth ability of an animal; (ii) how to define traits expressed repeatedly in subsequent reproductive cycles of breeding females and (iii) how to deal with traits that differ in average value between sexes or among animal groups. Various approaches that have been used to solve these problems were discussed. Furthermore, the manner in which diverse authors chose one or more traits from a group of alternatives for describing a specific biological potential were reviewed and commented on. The consequences of including or excluding relationships among economically important traits when estimating the EV for a specific trait were also examined. An important conclusion of the review is that, for a better comparability and interpretability of estimated EVs in the literature, it is desirable that clear and unique definitions of the traits, complete information on assumptions used in analytical models and details on inter-relationships between traits are documented. Furthermore, the method and the model used for the genetic evaluation of specific traits in a certain breeding organisation are important for the exact definition of traits, for which the economic values will be calculated, and for the inclusion or exclusion of relationships among traits in the calculation of the EVs in livestock breeding.

Trait-specific dependence in romantic relationships.

PubMed

Ellis, Bruce J; Simpson, Jeffry A; Campbell, Lorne

2002-10-01

Informed by three theoretical frameworks--trait psychology, evolutionary psychology, and interdependence theory--we report four investigations designed to develop and test the reliability and validity of a new construct and accompanying multiscale inventory, the Trait-Specific Dependence Inventory (TSDI). The TSDI assesses comparisons between present and alternative romantic partners on major dimensions of mate value. In Study 1, principal components analyses revealed that the provisional pool of theory-generated TSDI items were represented by six factors: Agreeable/Committed, Resource Accruing Potential, Physical Prowess, Emotional Stability, Surgency, and Physical Attractiveness. In Study 2, confirmatory factor analysis replicated these results on a different sample and tested how well different structural models fit the data. Study 3 provided evidence for the convergent and discriminant validity of the six TSDI scales by correlating each one with a matched personality trait scale that did not explicitly incorporate comparisons between partners. Study 4 provided further validation evidence, revealing that the six TSDI scales successfully predicted three relationship outcome measures--love, time investment, and anger/upset--above and beyond matched sets of traditional personality trait measures. These results suggest that the TSDI is a reliable, valid, and unique construct that represents a new trait-specific method of assessing dependence in romantic relationships. The construct of trait-specific dependence is introduced and linked with other theories of mate value.

Developmental pathways of childhood dark traits.

PubMed

De Clercq, Barbara; Hofmans, Joeri; Vergauwe, Jasmine; De Fruyt, Filip; Sharp, Carla

2017-10-01

The dark triad of personality has traditionally been defined by 3 interrelated constructs, defined as Narcissism, Machiavellianism, and Psychopathy. Although the content of each of these constructs is clearly represented in childhood maladaptive trait measures, no studies have jointly addressed the prospective developmental course of this core set of maladaptive characteristics throughout childhood and adolescence. The current study uses latent growth modeling to explore how early dark traits develop over time, relying on a selected set of 6 childhood maladaptive traits that conceptually cover the adult dark triad. Across a 5-wave multi-informant design spanning 10 years of childhood, adolescence, and emerging adulthood (Nwave 1 = 717, 54.4% girls, age range T1 = 8-14.7 years, mean age = 10.73), results indicate that childhood dark traits show to some extent shared growth across time, although notable unique growth variance was also observed. Early dark traits further demonstrate significant association patterns with an adult dark triad measure across informants and are increasingly able to discriminate among more and less prototypical profiles of adult dark triad scores. Findings are discussed from a developmental psychopathology framework, underscoring that the proposed set of childhood dark traits represents a meaningful developmental precursor of the adult dark triad. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Molecular and biochemical characterization of a unique mutation in CCS, the human copper chaperone to superoxide dismutase.

PubMed

Huppke, Peter; Brendel, Cornelia; Korenke, Georg Christoph; Marquardt, Iris; Donsante, Anthony; Yi, Ling; Hicks, Julia D; Steinbach, Peter J; Wilson, Callum; Elpeleg, Orly; Møller, Lisbeth Birk; Christodoulou, John; Kaler, Stephen G; Gärtner, Jutta

2012-08-01

Copper (Cu) is a trace metal that readily gains and donates electrons, a property that renders it desirable as an enzyme cofactor but dangerous as a source of free radicals. To regulate cellular Cu metabolism, an elaborate system of chaperones and transporters has evolved, although no human Cu chaperone mutations have been described to date. We describe a child from a consanguineous family who inherited homozygous mutations in the SLC33A1, encoding an acetyl CoA transporter, and in CCS, encoding the Cu chaperone for superoxide dismutase. The CCS mutation, p.Arg163Trp, predicts substitution of a highly conserved arginine residue at position 163, with tryptophan in domain II of CCS, which interacts directly with superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1). Biochemical analyses of the patient's fibroblasts, mammalian cell transfections, immunoprecipitation assays, and Lys7Δ (CCS homolog) yeast complementation support the pathogenicity of the mutation. Expression of CCS was reduced and binding of CCS to SOD1 impaired. As a result, this mutation causes reduced SOD1 activity and may impair other mechanisms important for normal Cu homeostasis. CCS-Arg163Trp represents the primary example of a human mutation in a gene coding for a Cu chaperone. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Quantitative trait loci mapping for Gibberella ear rot resistance and associated agronomic traits using genotyping-by-sequencing in maize.

PubMed

Kebede, Aida Z; Woldemariam, Tsegaye; Reid, Lana M; Harris, Linda J

2016-01-01

Unique and co-localized chromosomal regions affecting Gibberella ear rot disease resistance and correlated agronomic traits were identified in maize. Dissecting the mechanisms underlying resistance to Gibberella ear rot (GER) disease in maize provides insight towards more informed breeding. To this goal, we evaluated 410 recombinant inbred lines (RIL) for GER resistance over three testing years using silk channel and kernel inoculation techniques. RILs were also evaluated for agronomic traits like days to silking, husk cover, and kernel drydown rate. The RILs showed significant genotypic differences for all traits with above average to high heritability estimates. Significant (P < 0.01) but weak genotypic correlations were observed between disease severity and agronomic traits, indicating the involvement of agronomic traits in disease resistance. Common QTLs were detected for GER resistance and kernel drydown rate, suggesting the existence of pleiotropic genes that could be exploited to improve both traits at the same time. The QTLs identified for silk and kernel resistance shared some common regions on chromosomes 1, 2, and 8 and also had some regions specific to each tissue on chromosomes 9 and 10. Thus, effective GER resistance breeding could be achieved by considering screening methods that allow exploitation of tissue-specific disease resistance mechanisms and include kernel drydown rate either in an index or as indirect selection criterion.

Associations among hydrologic classifications and fish traits to support environmental flow standards

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

McManamay, Ryan A; Bevelhimer, Mark S; Frimpong, Dr. Emmanuel A,

2014-01-01

Classification systems are valuable to ecological management in that they organize information into consolidated units thereby providing efficient means to achieve conservation objectives. Of the many ways classifications benefit management, hypothesis generation has been discussed as the most important. However, in order to provide templates for developing and testing ecologically relevant hypotheses, classifications created using environmental variables must be linked to ecological patterns. Herein, we develop associations between a recent US hydrologic classification and fish traits in order to form a template for generating flow ecology hypotheses and supporting environmental flow standard development. Tradeoffs in adaptive strategies for fish weremore » observed across a spectrum of stable, perennial flow to unstable intermittent flow. In accordance with theory, periodic strategists were associated with stable, predictable flow, whereas opportunistic strategists were more affiliated with intermittent, variable flows. We developed linkages between the uniqueness of hydrologic character and ecological distinction among classes, which may translate into predictions between losses in hydrologic uniqueness and ecological community response. Comparisons of classification strength between hydrologic classifications and other frameworks suggested that spatially contiguous classifications with higher regionalization will tend to explain more variation in ecological patterns. Despite explaining less ecological variation than other frameworks, we contend that hydrologic classifications are still useful because they provide a conceptual linkage between hydrologic variation and ecological communities to support flow ecology relationships. Mechanistic associations among fish traits and hydrologic classes support the presumption that environmental flow standards should be developed uniquely for stream classes and ecological communities, therein.« less

Topological Phenotypes Constitute a New Dimension in the Phenotypic Space of Leaf Venation Networks

PubMed Central

Ronellenfitsch, Henrik; Lasser, Jana; Daly, Douglas C.; Katifori, Eleni

2015-01-01

The leaves of angiosperms contain highly complex venation networks consisting of recursively nested, hierarchically organized loops. We describe a new phenotypic trait of reticulate vascular networks based on the topology of the nested loops. This phenotypic trait encodes information orthogonal to widely used geometric phenotypic traits, and thus constitutes a new dimension in the leaf venation phenotypic space. We apply our metric to a database of 186 leaves and leaflets representing 137 species, predominantly from the Burseraceae family, revealing diverse topological network traits even within this single family. We show that topological information significantly improves identification of leaves from fragments by calculating a “leaf venation fingerprint” from topology and geometry. Further, we present a phenomenological model suggesting that the topological traits can be explained by noise effects unique to specimen during development of each leaf which leave their imprint on the final network. This work opens the path to new quantitative identification techniques for leaves which go beyond simple geometric traits such as vein density and is directly applicable to other planar or sub-planar networks such as blood vessels in the brain. PMID:26700471

The relationship between personality disorder traits and reactive versus proactive motivation for aggression.

PubMed

Lobbestael, Jill; Cima, Maaike; Lemmens, Anke

2015-09-30

There is a strong link between personality disorders (PDs) and aggression. This is reflected in high prevalence rates of PD diagnoses in forensic samples, and in several diagnostic criteria of PDs directly referring to elevated levels of aggression. Aggression can stem from two distinct types of motivation; reactive or impulsive aggression that serves as a defensive reaction to provocation, and proactive or premeditated aggression used to gain extrinsic benefits. Although some clinical conditions like antisocial, borderline, and narcissistic PDs or PD traits, have been empirically linked to reactive and/or proactive aggression, the current study pioneers assessing the relationship between reactive and proactive aggression and traits of all 10 PDs. A mixed sample of patient and non-patient (N=238) participants were administered with the SCID II to assess the level of PD traits; they also completed the Reactive Proactive Questionnaire to determine levels of reactive and proactive aggression. Results showed that paranoid PD traits were positively related to reactive aggression, whereas proactive aggression was uniquely related to antisocial PD traits. This highlights the importance of differentiating between distinct motivations for aggression in PD samples. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Magnetic field topology of the unique chemically peculiar star CU Virginis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kochukhov, O.; Lüftinger, T.; Neiner, C.; Alecian, E.; MiMeS Collaboration

2014-05-01

Context. The late-B, magnetic, chemically peculiar star CU Vir is one of the fastest rotators among the intermediate-mass stars with strong fossil magnetic fields. It shows a prominent rotational modulation of the spectral energy distribution and absorption line profiles due to chemical spots and exhibits a unique, strongly beamed variable radio emission. Aims: Little is known about the magnetic field topology of CU Vir. In this study, we aim to derive detailed maps of the magnetic field distribution over the surface of this star for the first time. Methods: We use high-resolution spectropolarimetric observations covering the entire rotational period. These data are interpreted using a multi-line technique of least-squares deconvolution (LSD) and a new Zeeman Doppler imaging code, which is based on detailed polarised radiative transfer modelling of the Stokes I and V LSD profiles. This new magnetic inversion approach relies on the spectrum synthesis calculations over the full wavelength range that is covered by observations and does not assume that the LSD profiles behave as a single spectral line with mean parameters. Results: We present magnetic and chemical abundance maps derived from the Si and Fe lines. Mean polarisation profiles of both elements reveal a significant departure of CU Vir's magnetic field topology from the commonly assumed axisymmetric dipolar configuration. The field of CU Vir is dipolar-like but clearly non-axisymmetric, showing a large difference in the field strength between the regions of opposite polarity. The main relative abundance depletion features in both Si and Fe maps coincide with the weak-field region in the magnetic map. Conclusions: The detailed information on the distorted dipolar magnetic field topology of CU Vir provided by our study is essential for understanding chemical spot formation, radio emission, and rotational period variation of this star. Based on observations obtained at the Bernard Lyot Telescope (USR5026) operated by the Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées, Université de Toulouse (Paul Sabatier), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique of France.